Global mobile phone sales up 19 percent in 2005

Stuart Corner
Monday, 30 January 2006 09:05

IT Industry - Strategy

According to US market researcher, Strategy Analytics, global mobile phone shipments in 2005 were 19 percent up on the prior year, a record 810 million units .


Neil Mawston, associate director of the company's wireless device strategies service, attributed the growth to booming demand in the southern hemisphere, in regions such as India and Africa, saying that emerging markets had accounted for one half of total worldwide sales in 2005.

The firm is forecasting global sales of 930 million units in 2006 and says that the 'iconic one billion total will be surpassed in 2007 "if emerging first-time buyers continue to surge and replacement rates in mature markets, such as North America, can be sustained."

Strategy Analytics says Motorola achieved an 18 percent share of the global market during Q4 2005 and that almost 1 in 3 of its sales were pf the Razr V3 model. The combined global share of Korea's Samsung (11 percent) and LG (7 percent) during Q4 2005, fell to its lowest point in  two years. Sony Ericsson joined the 50-million-units-per-annum club, following its Korean rival LG into this exclusive club of five.