The worldwide mobile phone market jumped during the fourth quarter to its highest level ever, says IDC. According to its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, worldwide mobile phone shipments totaled 194.3 million units in 4Q04, growing 18.1% sequentially and 24% year over year. For the full year 2004, worldwide mobile phone shipments increased 29.3% over 2003.
The fourth quarter marked Nokia’s second consecutive quarter with market share above 30%, reveals IDC. The Finnish company strengthened its product line-up with devices aimed at entry level, business, and fashion conscious users. As a result of its efforts, Nokia firmly maintained its spot as top vendor in the industry. The companies in the next four spots saw increased activity as well. Motorola reached record level shipments, claimed 16.4% of the market, and distanced itself from Samsung by more than ten million units. Third place Samsung, after spending most of 2004 steadily closing the gap against Motorola, saw its shipments decrease to levels it had not seen since the start of 2004, but managed to retain 10.9% of the market. Finally, LG Electronics climbed another notch to supplant Siemens for the number 4 spot and 7.2% market share, but only 0.3% separated the two companies.
‘Growth during the fourth quarter was largely fueled by vendors who offered a balanced portfolio of innovative features, technology, and style. Additionally, vendors continued to upgrade their product lines, improving features such as improved screen and camera capabilities as well as introducing more phones with 3G technology. Combined with phones introduced earlier in the year, vendors were able to offer a range of entry-level, mid-range, and high-end phones,’ said Ramon Llamas, research analyst in IDC’s Mobile Devices Group. ‘Now that there is more clarity among the top three spots, the competition will continue to heat up for the final two positions. The difference in shipments between LG Electronics and Siemens is slight, with recent public comments questioning the latter’s opportunity going forward. Sony Ericsson trails closely behind the two, poised to re-enter the top five .’
Source:IDC
2005-01-28
Em Foco – Empresa