Worldwide mobile phone shipments increase 16 per cent

By Alun Williams

Posted on 2 May 2003 at 12:38

The last three months have seen worldwide handset shipments increase more than 16 per cent over the same period in 2002, according to analysts IDC.

It is reported - in Worldwide Handset QView - that 107.6 million units were shifted in the first quarter of 2003. Sequentially, however, the total of shipments has declined 13 per cent on the previous three months.

Rather unsurprisingly, Nokia has retained its number one position in the market, but LG Electronics has replaced Sony Ericsson in the top five.

The success of Nokia is attributed to the availability of new handsets such as the 3650 and market innovation, in the form of its N-Gage mobile game deck, 3300 music device, and 6800 messaging device. Motorola maintained second spot, IDC states, on the basis of 'a growing worldwide portfolio of colour display devices and unique form factors.' Samsung bucked prevailing industry trends to increase shipments 4.1 per cent sequentially.

Underneath the headline figures, IDC believes the market for smart phones - what it terms 'converged handheld devices' - is just beginning to accelerate. This particular section of the market grew 423 per cent year-on-year and 33.7 per cent sequentially, standing at 1.71 million units.

It is innovation in handset technology that is continuing to generate handset sales, states Ross Sealfon, a research analyst in IDC's Smart Handheld Devices program. 'The evolution of colour displays, digital imaging, and converged handheld devices continues to drive growth in the worldwide handset market,' said Sealfon. 'Despite continued economic uncertainty, a strong first quarter supported by new technologies and form factors indicates healthy industry growth during 2003.'

The shipment figures for the top five vendors, are as follows (including percentage of market share).

1. Nokia 38.1m (35.5 per cent)


2. Motorola 16.7m (15.5 per cent)


3. Samsung 13.2m (12.3 per cent)


4. Siemens 8m (7.4)


5. LG 5.6m (5.2 per cent)


6. Other 25.9m (24.1 per cent)