Mobile phone sales may be coming under pressure, but suppliers
recorded over 300 million devices shipped during the fourth
quarter.
According to IDC’s Worldwide Mobile
Phone Tracker, the 334.0 million handsets shipped during the
holiday quarter was a new record for the industry, and was up 15.3%
over last quarter.
For the entire year, total shipments reached 1,144.1 million units
in 2007 with 12.4% overall growth.
While Nokia led the field, Samsung, which had been the number three
vendor in the industry, surpassed Motorola during 2007 to capture
the number two spot.
"Samsung capitalised on replacement handset opportunities in the US
and Europe with a steady stream of mid-range and high-end devices
while Motorola spent much of the year addressing inventory
challenges across EMEA and Asia," said Ramon Llamas, research
analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.
"Now that Motorola is implementing a new handset strategy, it will
be interesting to watch the hotly contested number two position in
2008," said Llamas.
“Over the last three years, growth in the industry during the
holiday quarter has fluctuated from 18.0% to 30.0%, and this past
quarter we saw it drop to 11.6%,” said Ryan Reith, senior research
analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker.
“The expectation that the market would maintain the level of
growth it saw over the last three years was unrealistic. We expect
growth to be in the single digits throughout 2008, and most likely
for years to follow,” said Reith.
Nokia shipped more units in the fourth quarter than the next
three vendors' shipment volumes combined. This, Nokia executives
pointed out, was the result of its streamlined operations, which
produced on average nearly 1.5 million units each day during the
quarter.
Nokia's volumes were primarily driven by entry level products
from its 1100 and 1200 device families, but its biggest revenue and
profit generators came from its premium Nseries devices.
Samsung posted its third consecutive quarter as the No. 2 vendor
worldwide, and recorded its sixth consecutive quarter of shipment
growth. In the process, Samsung realized double-digit profit
margins during the quarter, resulting from an emphasis on its
premium Ultra Edition phones and converged mobile devices.
Motorola spent another quarter addressing its challenges, the
most significant being a slowing demand for Motorola's products.
CEO Greg Brown pointed out that the company had missed out on
significant growth areas, most notably in 3G, China, and emerging
markets, and that gaps in Motorola's current product portfolio had
to be addressed.
Sony Ericsson broke through the thirty million unit mark for the
first time in its history. As in previous quarters, EMEA
represented the bulk of the company's shipments, but it also
improved its presence in North America, Latin America, and Asia
Pacific.