Mobile phone shipments neared 1 billion in 2006

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Mar. 06, 2007

Record U.S. sales and exploding ultra-low-cost markets in India helped worldwide mobile phone shipments to end users grow 21 percent, to reach 990.8 million in 2006, according to Gartner. Additionally, sales to distributors surpassed a billion units for the year, as Asian distributors prepared for New Year's demand.

For the year overall, Nokia extended its market leadership, shipping 345 million phones to end users, Gartner said. Second-place Motorola, meanwhile, shipped 209 million phones. Collectively, the six largest phone vendors -- Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony-Ericsson, LG, and Sagem -- controlled 86 percent of the market in 2006, up from 81 percent the year before.

Worldwide Mobile Terminal Sales to End-Users in 2006 (Thousands of Units)

Company 2006 Sales 2006 Market Share (%) 2005 Sales 2005 Market Share (%)

Nokia
344,915.9 34.8 265,614.8 32.5

Motorola 209,250.9 21.1 144,920.4
17.7

Samsung 116,480.1 11.8 103,753.6 12.7

Sony Ericsson
73,641.6 7.4 51,773.8 6.3

LG 61,986.0 6.3 54,924.6
6.7

BenQ Mobile 23,558.2 2.4 39,692.3 4.9

Others
161,029.8 16.2 155,883.4 19.2

TOTAL: 990,862.5 100.0 816,562.9
100.0

Nokia closed out the year with a strong 36.2 percent share in Q4, up from 35 percent for the same quarter the previous year. Motorola, meanwhile, controlled 21.5 percent of the Q4 market, up from 17.8 percent in 2005.

Worldwide Mobile Terminal Sales to End-Users in 4Q-06 (Thousands of Units)

Company 4Q06 Sales 4Q06Market Share (%) 4Q05 Sales 4Q05Market Share (%)

Nokia 102,791.8 36.2 82,218.3
35.0

Motorola 61,034.4 21.5 41,884.0 17.8

Samsung
32,011.3 11.3 28,385.4 12.1

Sony Ericsson 25,666.9 9.0 16,118.7
6.9

LG 17,833.2 6.3 16,875.0 7.2

Sagem
4,367.6 1.5 4,230.0 1.8

Others 40,519.1 14.2 45,418.3
19.2
TOTAL: 284,224.3 100.0 235,129.7 100.0

Regionally, Asia Pacific accounted for 301 million units, up a whopping 47 percent over 2005 figures. Growth was led by ultra-low cost phones in India, TV phones in Korea, and slim phones in more mature markets such as Singapore.

Growth was significantly slower in most mature regions, such as Japan, where end users consumed 47.3 million phones, up only 5 percent from the year before, Gartner said. Similarly, Western Europe consumed 175 million phones, up only 7 percent from 2005 figures.

Overall, however, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) accounted for 185 million phones, up a respectable 21 percent from 2005, the research firm added. And, despite being a relatively mature market, North America accounted for 164.2 million phones for the year, including a record 44.8 million units shipped to end users in Q4. Hugues De La Vergne, principal analyst, stated, "In North America, consumers upgraded their phones at record levels."

The findings and tabulated data are from Gartner's report, "Market Share: Mobile Devices, 4Q06 and 2006." These and other findings will be discussed at the Gartner Wireless and Mobile Summit 2007, Apr. 17-18 in London.

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