A new report shows the mobile-phone industry could hit almost 500 million shipments this year, a number driven by demand in emerging markets in Asia and Latin America and sales of color- and camera-enabled devices.
“We see positive signs from vendors and carriers that this growth has the stamina to continue through the volume Q4 holiday season,” said Strategy Analytics in its assessment of the mobile-phone industry’s stellar third quarter.
The firm found the global handset sell-in numbers grew at a 23 percent annual rate in the third quarter of this year, up from an 11 percent increase in the previous quarter. Due to such rapidly increasing sales, the firm raised its 2003 sales predictions to 492 million units.
The firm found Nokia Corp. lost some market share, although it maintained its lead in the market, while Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. gained some market share. Strategy Analytics also found LG Electronics Co. Ltd. edged past Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications for the No. 5 slot.
In a separate study, research firm Allied Business Intelligence found sales of color screen mobile phones and other advanced devices picking up-another good sign for the industry. The firm also said sales of smart phones will continue to grow, predicting the smart-phone market will hit 150 million units by 2008.
Interestingly, the firm also said Nokia has seen successes with its N-Gage mobile-phone/video-game device, selling 400,000 N-Gages in the first two weeks of availability. Nokia has said it plans to offer N-Gage sales information in the coming weeks.
