MobileMonday Global

^{Nokia’s rebound confirmed} Gartner puts 2004 end user sales at 674 million

Driven by strong fourth quarter growth, worldwide mobile phone sales surpassed 674 million units in 2004, a 30 percent increase from 2003 according to market research company Gartner. Worldwide mobile phone sales grew 24 percent in quarter four compared to the same quarter in 2003.

“The market exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts in 2004. Strong replacement sales, seasonal dynamics and continued growth in emerging markets, especially Latin America, delivered the highest sales volume ever recorded,” said Ben Wood, principal analyst for mobile terminals research at Gartner.

After a tough start to the year, Nokia rebounded with a fourth quarter 2004 market share of 33 percent.

“Nokia stabilized its market share at the end of 2004 after the challenges of the first two quarters where it dropped to 28.8 percent,” Mr. Wood said. “Its broad portfolio of devices combined with its profitable high volume low-tier products will help sustain this position in 2005, but it must regain the initiative in terms of brand and technology leadership in the face of strong competition from other top 5 vendors.”

Global Mobile Terminal Sales to End-Users in 2004 (units, millions)
Vendor	2004	2004 Share (%)	2003	2003 Share (%)
Nokia	207.2	30.7	180.7	34.8
Motorola	104.1	15.4	75.2	14.5
Samsung	85.2	12.6	54.5	10.5
Siemens	48.5	7.2	43.8	8.4
LG	42.3	6.3	26.2	5.0
Sony Ericsson	42.0	6.2	26.7	5.1
Others	144.6	21.6	113.0	21.7
Total	674.0	100	520.0	100

Source: Gartner

In the fourth quarter, Motorola regained its second position ahead of Samsung with higher than expected growth.

Motorola’s revitalized brand, due largely to the positive reviews of the RAZR V3, helped lead strong sales in Europe and North America. This was combined with aggressive pricing in emerging markets, particularly in Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Samsung increased its brand awareness in 2004, particularly in China, and it also demonstrated market leadership in some areas such as multi-mega pixel camera phones. To challenge Motorola and Nokia Gartner analysts said Samsung will need to change its strategy and expand its product portfolio into the high volume, lower margin segment.

In Western Europe, strong Christmas sales combined with aggressive pricing (both on hardware and promotional contracts / calling plans) helped sustain sales momentum. Other than price, color screens, cameras and fashion / design remain the key sales drivers in this region.

The North America market has been led by replacement sales. Generous promotions offering multiple “free” handsets on family price plans and declining prices for color / camera phones fueled growth.

In Asia/Pacific, replacement sales played a significant role in more mature markets like Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore remained buoyant with competition in Hong Kong intensifying further. In China, mobile phones with color displays and camera phones continued to grow. GSM sales accounted for 85 percent of total sales due to competitive pricing and focus on low-tier market by China Mobile. Overall mobile phone sales in Japan declined in 2004.

Latin America ended 2004 with strong sales in the fourth quarter. Almost 19 million new subscribers were added in the fourth quarter, with more than 7 million subscribers in Brazil.

The momentum built in 2004 will continue into 2005 as Gartner forecasts worldwide mobile phone sales to exceed 730 million units. While the mobile phone market will continue to grow, Gartner analysts said vendors will face challenges in 2005.

“In mature markets, it remains to be seen whether the record breaking levels of replacement sales can be sustained,” said Hugues De La Vergne, principal analyst for mobile terminals research (Americas) at Gartner. “In emerging markets the major battle ground in 2005 will be the sub USD 50 handset arena.” Additional information is in the

Global Mobile Terminal Sales to End-Users in 2004 Q4 (units, millions)
Vendor	Q4 2004	Share (%)	Q4 2003	Share (%)
Nokia	64.39	33	54.58	34.7
Motorola	31.74	16.3	22.26	14.1
Samsung	23.88	12.2	15.52	9.9
Siemens	13.34	6.8	8.73	5.5
LG	12.59	6.4	14.91	9.5
Sony Ericsson	12.34	6.3	7.97	5.1
Others	37.04	19	33.32	21.2
Total	195.32	100	157.29	100

Source: Gartner

Related News

• Nokia’s profit and revenue better than expected (27 Jan 2005)
• Samsung passes Motorola (2 Dec 2004)
• Nokia drops 8 points in Europe (23 Nov 2004)
• Nokia takes market from Motorola and Samsung (4 Nov 2004)
• Symbian leaves Microsoft further behind (30 Oct 2004)

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