IDC reports that after a record quarter of worldwide shipments, the worldwide mobile phone market slowed slightly in the first quarter of 2005 due to expected seasonality. According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, worldwide mobile phone shipments totaled 174.3 million units in 1Q05, decreasing 12.6% from the fourth quarter of 2004 but increasing 9.2% year over year.
Among the leading vendors, Nokia maintained its number 1 position within the industry, collecting 30.9% market share despite enduring the largest sequential decrease in shipments. U.S.-based Motorola once again captured second place with further penetration into Europe and leadership in the Americas. Samsung, the only company among the leading vendors to post a sequential gain, locked up third place and regained its momentum to catch up with Motorola after experiencing declining shipments in 2004. Holding steady in fourth place is LG Electronics, marking the company's third consecutive quarter of shipments greater than ten million. Returning to the top five is Sony Ericsson, which beat out former number 5 vendor Siemens by just one hundred thousand units.
Rank
Vendor
Q1 2005 Shipments
Q1 2005 Market share
1
Nokia
53,800,000
30.9%
2
Motorola
28,700,000
16.5%
3
Samsung
24,500,000
14.1%
4
LG Electronics
11,100,000
6.4%
5
Sony Ericsson
9,400,000
5.4%
Others
46,800,000
26.9%
Total
174,300,000
100.0%
"Most vendors have increased their shipment levels from a year ago, showing that despite a slight downturn from the previous quarter, consumer demand is still strong and vendors are prepared to meet that demand with a broad selection of phones," said Ramon Llamas, research analyst for IDC's Mobility Group. "Vendors have been stretching the limits on what phones can do and what they are supposed to look like. Telephony is still at the core of the mobile phone, but now it can be wrapped with features to satisfy different consumer tastes. What were once considered high-end features are now standard on many low-cost phones as vendors battle to gain market share and consumer attention."
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