February 16, 2005
Q4 2004 Record for Cell Phone Manufacturers
A record fourth quarter last year for cell phone manufacturers helped ensure a third straight record year for mobile phone shipments worldwide, according to In-Stat. The high-tech market research firm reports that for the quarter ending Dec. 31, total shipments were 193.7 million units.
In-Stat has also found the following:
-- Nokia retained its No. 1 position, shipping 66.1 million cell phones in the period. Motorola had strong sequential growth, up 36%, but placed a distant second with 31.8 million phones.
-- Among the leaders, Samsung faltered the most sequentially, shipping 21.1 million phones, a drop of 7% from the third quarter when it shipped 22.7 million phones and nearly caught Motorola.
-- Up-and-comer LG leaped into fourth place in the fourth quarter of 2004, shipping 13.9 million cell phones and moving ahead of struggling Siemens, which produced 13.5 million cell phones.
-- Nokia's strong quarter, spurred by a mid-price camera phone, helped it recapture some lost market share, moving up three percentage points to 34.1%.
-- Motorola's quarterly market share grew more than two points to 16.4%. Samsung's quarterly share slid nearly three points to 10.9%.
-- Market shares in the quarter for the rest of the top six were: LG with 7.2%, Siemens 7%, and Sony Ericsson 6.5%.
-- LG continued its steady climb with strong sales of its camera phones in the U.S. market, and healthy sales of its third-generation models in Europe.
-- Siemens' cell phone division suffered a $187 million loss in the quarter amid speculation the company would make a drastic change, including the possibility of closing the division. A possible buyer or partner has not stepped forward. Managers in Germany have said only that they are still exploring the division's future.
-- For the full year, global shipments totaled 678 million mobile phones, a 27% increase over last year.
-- Annual market shares for the top vendors were: Nokia 30.6%, Motorola 15.4%, Samsung 12.8%, Siemens 7.3%, LG 6.5% and Sony Ericsson 6.3%.
-- This year, shipments are expected to grow about 7% to approximately 725 million units.
Source: In stat Press Release
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Posted by Darren at February 16, 2005 01:48 AM
