Global mobile phone sales increased by 13.8% to 325.6 million units in the second quarter of 2010, compared to the same period last year, while smartphone sales increased by 50.5% to 61.6 million units, according to a new report from research firm Gartner.
Gartner said that inspite of double-digit growth in second quarter of 2010, average selling prices (ASPs) and margins fell due to a depreciating euro, strong dollar and intense competition.
According to Gartner, worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 325.6 million units in Q2 2010, an increase of 14% from Q2 2009. However, producers such as LG which tried to increase market share in low-margin market registered decline in ASP by 27.8% in Q2 2010.
In addition, introduction of new products from Apple, HTC and Motorola, along with the drop in ASPs, aided in strong sales of smartphones, while shortages of components, such as active matrix organic LED (AMOLED) displays hampered sales volumes of some of the popular new smartphones, Gartner said.
Two of the top five mobile phone vendors experienced a decline in sales in Q2 2010. The top five vendors continued to lose market share to Apple and other vendors, with their combined share dropping from 74.2% in Q2 2009 to 70.1% in Q2 2010.
Nokia gained the top spot with 111.5 million unit shipments and a market share of 34.2%, a 2.6 percentage points drop from Q2 2009. Samsung’s market share increased by 0.8 percentage points to 20.1% from previous year second quarter, while Motorola accounted for 2.8% of the total market share in Q2 2010, compared to 5.6% in Q2 2009.
In the smartphone OS market, Symbian continued its lead with a market share of 41.2%, down 9.8 percentage points from Q2 2009. RIM and Android OS accounted for a market share of 18.2% and 17.2%, respectively.
Gartner research vice president Carolina Milanesi said that the launches of updated operating systems would help maintain strong growth in smartphones in the second half of 2010 and spur innovation.
"But we believe market share in the OS space will consolidate around a few key OS providers that have the most support from CSPs and developers, and strong brand awareness with consumers and enterprise customers," Milanesi said.
