FRAMINGHAM, Mass.-LG Electronics has replaced Sony Ericsson Communications Inc. in the No. 5 spot for worldwide handset sales in the first quarter of the year, according to data released by IDC. Worldwide handset shipments were up 16.6 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2003.
Nokia maintained its top spot in the market with a 35.5-percent market share in the quarter, shipping 38.1 million phones. Motorola was a distant No. 2 with 15.5 percent of the market and 16.7 million handsets shipped worldwide, followed by Samsung with a 12.3-percent market share and 13.2 million shipments and Siemens with 8 million shipments for 7.4 percent of the market. LG Electronics had 5.62 million shipments and 5.2 percent of the market to round out the top five overall suppliers. LG Electronics enjoyed 109.7 year-over-year growth.
In addition, the market for smart phones grew 438.3 percent year over year to 1.76 million units, IDC said, as a number of new converged devices hit the market. Market leader Nokia also dominated the smart-phone portion of the market with nearly 56-percent smart-phone market share in the first quarter. Sony Ericsson had the second-highest share of smart-phone sales due to strong sales of its P800 and has 11.1-percent of the market. Motorola, Samsung and Handspring also were in the top-five list of smart-phone suppliers during the quarter, according to IDC.
IDC offered upbeat predictions for the rest of the year. “Despite continued economic uncertainty, a strong first quarter supported by new technologies and form factors indicates healthy industry growth during 2003,” said Ross Sealfon, research analyst in IDC’s Smart Handheld Devices program.
