14 DAY TRIAL // The worldwide handset shipments reached 303 million during the first quarter of the ongoing year, a recently published report from ABI Research shows. According to the research firm, this marks an increase of around 19 percent when compared to the first three months of the last year, which shows that the global phone marker is indeed poised for growth in 2010.
“Despite ash clouds over Europe, handset shipments globally for 1Q-2010 powered ahead to 303 million, up 19% Year-on-Year,” says Jake Saunders, VP for Forecasting at ABI Research. “This bodes well for 2010 as a whole: shipments could well reach 1.3 billion. It is also notable that 3G handset shipments eclipsed 2G handset shipments.”
The highest growth in mobile phone shipments was registered in Middle East and Africa, with 20 percent growth year on year, ABI Research states. Next in line came the Americas, with a great focus on the United States, which registered an increase of 11 percent. The European market was a littler slower than these areas, with a single-digit growth.
On the vendors’ side, Nokia remained leader with 34 percent market share. The handset vendor has lost its traction in the smartphone segment, yet new devices, such as Nokia N8, should help it boast sales. At the same time, the research firm notes that the work on Symbian ^3 and ^4 is another factor that might contribute to Nokia's growth and that the company will also focus on the delivery of smartphones into the mid-tier and low-tier segments.
Samsung ended the quarter with 21 percent market share, and managed to increase its shipments by 40 percent on a yearly basis. LG was placed on the third position with 8.9 percent share, suffering from the lack of a strong smartphone portfolio. However, the phone maker registered shipments increase of 20 percent year on year. Motorola had 2.8 percent of the market, mainly courtesy of DROID, and should increase shipments due to new devices.
Apple had a pretty strong quarter, it seems. It managed to ship 8.75 million devices, enjoying 2.9 percent market share, and a 130 percent increase in shipments when compared to the first quarter of the last year. The company is expected to maintain momentum with the launch of iPhone OS release 4, which should bring multitasking and in-app advertising into the mix, but ABI Research notes that Apple should consider bringing diversity to its offering. Additional details are available on the research firm's website.