Global mobile phone sales increased by 31.8% to 1.6 billion units in 2010, compared to the same quarter of 2009, while smartphone sales increased by 72.1% to 297 million units, according to a new report from research firm Gartner.
Gartner said that smartphones accounted for 19% of overall mobile phone sales in 2010.
According to Gartner, three of the top five mobile phone vendors experienced a decline in sales in 2010, with Nokia, Samsung, and LG registering market share decline by 7.5, 1.9, and 3 percentage points, respectively.
Nokia gained the top spot with 461.3 million unit sales and a market share of 28.9%, a 7.5 percentage points drop from 2009.
Samsung’s market share decreased by 1.9 percentage points to 17.6% from previous year, and LG accounted for 7.1% of the total market share in 2010, compared to 10.1% in 2009.
In the smartphone OS market, Symbian continued its lead with a market share of 37.6%, down 9.3 percentage points from 2009.
Android and RIM accounted for a market share of 22.7% and 16%, respectively.
Gartner principal research analyst Carolina Milanesi said strong smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 pushed Apple and Research In Motion (RIM) up in their 2010 worldwide ranking of mobile device manufacturers to the No. 5 and No. 4 positions, respectively, displacing Sony Ericsson and Motorola.
"Nokia and LG saw their market share erode in 2010 as they came under increasing pressure to refine their smartphone strategies," Milanesi said.
