14 DAY TRIAL // According to a recent report from Gartner, the total number of mobile phones sold during the third quarter of the ongoing year reached 308.9 million units, marking a 0.1 per cent increase when compared to the same time frame in 2008. At the same time, the research firm also shows that smartphone sales managed to top 41 million units, marking a 12.8 per cent increase when compared to the same period a year ago.
“The third quarter of 2009 saw the announcement of many new mobile devices, including several Android smartphones ready for the holiday season in the fourth quarter, but hardware commoditisation and the growth in open platforms will make it harder for them to stand out,” said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. “Meanwhile, the channel slowed its inventory-reduction efforts so while some sales volumes increased, average selling prices (ASPs) stagnated. We expect pressure on ASP to continue into 2010.”
During the quarter, Apple managed to outpace RIM in sales in Western Europe, something that has never happened before ever since the iPhone was launched. The market was led by Nokia, which saw its share drop 1.5 percentage points on a yearly basis, followed by Samsung that raised its share. LG reportedly had a good performance due to competitive pricing of touchscreen and messaging handsets, while Motorola and Sony Ericsson went through a rather difficult third quarter.
“Many devices will reach the market in time for Christmas, and mobile carriers will run incentives for consumers during the holidays. We expect sales of mobile devices in the fourth quarter of 2009 to show year-over-year growth,” said Ms. Milanesi. “As many vendors and industry watchers call for a decrease in sales into the channel, our sell through data is showing that 2009 performance will be flat rather than down over 2008.”
According to Gartner, Nokia managed to sell around 113,466 million devices, accounting for 36.7 percent of the market, Samsung sold 60,627 million units, reaching a market share of 19.6 percent, LG sold 31,901 million phones, translated into a market share of 10.3 percent, Motorola sold 13,912 units, with a 4.5 percent market share, while Sony Ericsson accounted for 4.3 percent of the market, with 13,409 phones sold. The figures “include iDEN shipments, but excludes ODM to OEM shipments,” the firm notes.