Europeans fall back in love with the mobile

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 22 Jul 2003 at 12:48

Shipment figures for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) show that our love affair with the mobile phone has been reignited with pictures and data services.

The figures, from industry analysts at Canalys, show mobile device shipments for the second quarter of this year have risen 238 per cent year on year to 1,695,950.

'Shipments for high-end phones are growing in line with our expectations,' said Canalys director Chris Jones. 'And while the camera is still the main attraction for many, users will increasingly take advantage of the other data features.

'The challenge for the whole mobile market is to extend consumer usage of these devices beyond the traditional phone and handheld applications.'

Most notably, Nokia and Sony Ericsson saw year on year shipment growths of 1,316 per cent and 4,731 per cent to grab 49 and 10 per cent of the market respectively.

Palm also did well, and with a host of product launches in recent months, grew its market share 29 per cent to 12 per cent overall. And Palm licensee Sony polished off its second-best quarter ever in EMEA, increasing shipments by 64 per cent year on year.

PocketPC handheld maker HP grew its share 30 per cent to 9 per cent overall, although Canalys expects the best is yet to come from the company. 'We expect HP will have a better Q3,' said Canalys director Chris Jones. 'It has been focused on clearing the channel to make way for a raft of new models, the effect of which will kick in over the coming months.'