Ending five consecutive quarters of retrenchment, the global mobile phone market grew 11.3% in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to a new report from market intelligence firm IDC.
The new report showed that vendors shipped 325.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to 292.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2008. IDC anticipates that the worldwide mobile phone market will rebound in 2010.
Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst for IDC’s mobile devices technology and trends team, said: “IDC believes that the converged mobile device market grew nearly 30% year over year, and that the market will continue to gain momentum as device selection increases and price decreases continue into 2010 and beyond.
Economic recovery mixed with pent-up demand will create positive conditions for handset vendors in both developed and emerging markets in 2010. Meanwhile, key handset vendors expect to exceed their 2009 shipment levels with refreshed portfolios, leveraging interest in touchscreens, messaging devices, and converged mobile devices.
For the quarter ended December 31, 2009, Nokia gained the top spot with a market share of 39%. Shipments were 126.9 million, an increase of 12.2%, compared to 113.1 million units shipped in the same period last year. Samsung stood second in the list with 68.8 million units accounting for 21.1% market share.
LG Electronics shipments increased 31.1% to 33.9 million from 25.7 million units in the same period last year, with a market share of 10.4%. Sony Ericsson took a market share of 4.5% with 14.6 million units shipped in the quarter, down 39.7%, compared to 24.2 million units shipped in Q408. Motorola ended fifth with 12 million units shipped and a market share of 3.7%, a decrease of 37.5%, compared to 19.2 million units shipped in Q408.
Geographically, the Asia/Pacific market excluding Japan (APEJ) saw strong gains in the fourth quarter 2009, reflecting a strong start to recovery with touchscreen-enabled devices remaining a hot segment for the fourth quarter of 2009. The Western European handset market grew on both a year-over-year and sequential basis in 4Q09. Vendors in CEMA (Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa) found improvement during the quarter, but overall sales in the region were focused on entry-level handsets.
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The North American market finished second after APEJ with strong demand for converged mobile devices. In Canada, mobile phone shipment volumes increased with introduction of a new wireless network while the Latin American mobile phone market shrunk in the fourth quarter. However, the market improved from the double-digit declines posted in previous quarters.
