Global mobile phone sales up 17 per cent

Nokia is still the market leader, but faces ever stronger competition

Mobile phone shipments have grown by 17 per cent over the past year, according to the latest figures from Gartner.

The analyst firm said that global mobile phone sales totalled 314.7 million units in the first quarter of 2010. Smartphones accounted for 54.3 million of the sales, an increase of 48.7 per cent.

Gartner said that the most successful mobile phone companies offer comprehensive packages that integrate operating system, hardware and services, such as Apple and its iPhone, but that Google's Android had performed exceptionally well.

"In the first quarter of 2010, smartphone sales to end users saw their strongest year-on-year increase since 2006," said Carolina Milanesi, a research vice president at Gartner.

"This quarter saw RIM, a pure smartphone player, make its debut in the top five mobile device manufacturers, and saw Apple increase its market share by 1.2 per cent."

Android's momentum continued into the first quarter of 2010, particularly in North America, where sales of Android-based phones increased by a whopping 707 per cent year on year, the figures show.

Nokia sold the most handsets, and has 35 per cent of the market, followed by Samsung with 20 per cent, and LG with nine per cent.

Nokia was the only vendor to increase its share, but Gartner believes that the firm will have its work cut out holding on to its leadership position.

"High-end products will not rejuvenate Nokia's premium portfolio until the end of the third quarter of 2010 at the earliest, and Nokia will continue to feel pressure on its average selling price from vendors such as HTC, RIM and Samsung," said Milanesi.

Apple is in seventh position, but has seen its strongest quarter to date. Some of this growth is the result of widening the number of telecoms providers that can sell its iPhone, along with sales in new markets and the expected availability of the next iPhone OS later this year.

"Growth came partly from new communication service providers in established markets such as the UK, and stronger sales in new markets such as China and South Korea," said Milanesi.

The second quarter of 2010 will be very important for Apple, the analyst said. Gartner expects the company to present its new iPhone in June at the Worldwide Developer Conference, and that it will be the first to feature the latest iPhone OS that includes improvements for developers and users, such as multi-tasking.

Symbian remained at number one in the smartphone market, but Android again capitalised on its strong start and took fourth place. Apple was third, and RIM second.