DeviceGuru

The growth in mobile phone shipments will slow slightly this year due to a “tougher” economic environment, but will still increase by 10 percent, to 1.24 billion units, a leading market research firm forecasts.

According to Strategy Analytics’s latest quarterly report on the global handset market, 2007 shipments grew 12 percent over 2006, to 1.12 billion units.

During Q4 of 2007, “Nokia was the star performer, registering a record 40 percent share … despite fierce competition from ambitious rivals such as Samsung and Apple,” according to Neil Mawston, a director at Strategy Analytics. Mawston attributes Nokia’s success to “a famous brand, attractive handset lineup, strong technology portfolio and the industry’s best logistics.”

Other findings from the Strategy Analytics report include:

• Motorola’s Q4 2007 market share dropped dramatically year-over-year, to 12.3 percent from 22.4 percent in Q4 of the prior year, attributed primarily to the company’s “failure to replace the popular Razr model”
• Sony Ericsson’s growth rate continued its quarterly declines, mainly due to “improved handset portfolios from Samsung, LG, and Nokia”
• Apple shipped 2.3 million iPhone units worldwide, achieving a “healthy” 0.6 percent share in Q4 2007; Strategy Analytics expects Apple to be among the top ten handset vendors globally by the end of 2008

For Q4 of 2007, the top five handset vendors’ market shares reportedly were: Nokia (40.2%), Samsung (14.0%), Motorola (12.3%), Sony Ericsson (9.3%), and LG Electronics (7.1%). For the entire year, the market shares were: Nokia (38.8%), Samsung (14.3%), Motorola (14.1%), Sony Ericsson (9.2), and LG Electronics (7.2%). (These percentages represent share of units.)

For further details visit the Strategy Analytics website.