Mobile phone sales rocket

Global mobile phone shipments have risen by almost a quarter year over year in 2004, according to a recent report from IDC.

The analyst firm's latest Worldwide Mobile Phone Qview found that the market increased sequentially by seven per cent during the third quarter to 164.1 million units.

The third quarter marked the first time that Nokia has achieved greater than 30 per cent market share since the company's drop during the first quarter of 2004.

IDC observed that the mobile giant had been faulted for a lack of mid-range handsets, but had responded by reinforcing its portfolio with newly unveiled mid-range and high-end handsets, including fashion, camera and enterprise focused phones and converged mobile devices.

While Nokia was identified as being "firmly at the top of the market", the next four spots have been more in flux than ever.

Only 0.4 per cent separates number two Motorola and number three Samsung, while the same amount separates number four Siemens and number five LG Electronics.

Even LG Electronics is not completely safe, with Sony Ericsson less than one per cent behind, the study noted.

David Linsalata, an analyst in IDC's Mobile Devices programme, explained that the worldwide mobile sales growth has been fuelled by strong replacement trends in established markets, and increased shipments into regions with low mobile penetration rates.

"Key to this growth has been the continued effort by mobile phone vendors to engage in a constant cycle of innovation, improvement and renewal throughout their product portfolios," he said.

"With many of the top market spots in close contention, and the holiday season looming, those vendors that put forth well-positioned and comprehensive portfolios of entry, mid-end and high-end devices, and can execute in meeting demand, will be most rewarded with potential market share increases."