| IDC: smartphone market nearly doubled in 2003 |
Feb. 03, 2004
Handset sales for the year 2003 exceeded half a billion units for the first time in the market's history according to a report from IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone QView research service. In particular, the market for "converged mobile devices" (smartphones) showed "significant growth and future promise" in 2003, growing over 180%, IDC says.
Specifically, worldwide mobile phone shipments grew by 29.7% year-over-year in 4Q03 and increased sequentially by 21.8% to 167.8 million units, IDC says. Shipments for the entire year of 2003 grew 23.3% from 432.7 million devices shipped worldwide in 2002, to 533.4 million handsets in 2003.
In the converged mobile device segment, sales in the fourth quarter of 2003 grew 182.3% year-over-year and 77.4% sequentially to 3.7 million units. The strong sales during the fourth quarter drove worldwide shipments for 2003 up 181.6% year-over-year to 9.6 million devices.
"Worldwide mobile phone manufacturers grew their sales by tapping into robust demand in emerging markets in Asia and Eastern Europe," noted David Linsalata, analyst in IDC's Mobile Devices program. "In addition to driving increased sales, first-time buyers' preference for more expensive midrange and high-end mobile phones helped to drive additional revenue to phone manufacturers. Additionally, North American and Western European consumers elected to replace their existing handsets with new 2.5G models as the need for 3G remains unproven."
"As new devices from Research in Motion (RIM) and newly-reformed palmOne reach market, consumers and enterprises alike are experiencing a fresh take on data-centric converged mobile devices," added Linsalata. "Simultaneously, voice-centric converged mobile devices based on a range of software platforms and available in variety of form factors are seeing significant growth as vendors such as Nokia and Motorola weave imaging and data capabilities with proven telephony experience to form significantly improved devices."
IDC provided the following highlights from their latest research on the worldwide mobile phone market . . .
Mobile Phones
These small, battery-powered, voice-centric devices utilize operator-provided cellular/PCS air interfaces for voice communication. They are designed primarily, in both form factor and feature set, for a compelling mobile telephony experience, but may also include text-messaging capability. Mobile phones may include a headset jack for hands-free operation as well as a variety of features, such as personal information management, multimedia, games, or office applications. Mobile phones exist at all points along the form factor, price point, and feature set continua. Mobile phones that combine voice communications capabilities with pen or keypad handheld data features are tracked within the Converged Devices category (discussed later in this article).
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments and Market Share, 4Q 2003 (Preliminary)
| Rank | Vendor | 4Q 2003 Shipments | 4Q 2003 Market Share | | 1 | Nokia | 55,342,432 | 33.0% | | 2 | Motorola | 22,447,819 | 13.4% | | 3 | Samsung | 15,986,310 | 9.5% | | 4 | Siemens | 15,241,956 | 9.1% | | 5 | LG Electronics | 8,933,545 | 5.3% | | | Other | 49,837,865 | 29.7% | | | Total | 167,789,927 | 100.0% | Source: IDC, February 3, 2003
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments and Market Share, 2003 (Preliminary)
| Rank | Vendor | 2003 Shipments | 2003 Market Share | | 1 | Nokia | 179,339,210 | 33.6% | | 2 | Motorola | 75,439,176 | 14.1% | | 3 | Samsung | 53,004,233 | 9.9% | | 4 | Siemens | 45,344,920 | 8.5% | | 5 | LG Electronics | 27,496,720 | 5.2% | | | Other | 152,732,263 | 28.6% | | | Total | 533,356,522 | 100.0% | Source: IDC, February 3, 2003
Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.
Converged Mobile Devices
These mobile devices are either voice or data centric and are capable of synchronizing personal information and/or email with server, desktop, or laptop computers. Positioned to solve the "multiple device question" and replacing the need to carry a mobile phone and a pen-based handheld or a mobile phone and a pager, for example, these devices may also include an expanding list of features, such as multimedia or email. These devices must match wireless telephony capability to evolved operating systems or application environments, such as the Palm OS, Microsoft Pocket PC Phone Edition 2002, Microsoft Windows Smartphone, and the Symbian platform. These devices must include the ability to download data to local storage, run applications, and store user data beyond their required PIM capabilities. Converged handheld devices must also offer the full extent of their application processing capability to the user, regardless of network availability
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Converged Mobile Device Shipments and Market Share, 4Q 2003 (Preliminary)
| Rank | Vendor | 4Q 2003 Shipments | 4Q 2003 Market Share | | 1 | Nokia | 2,164,242 | 59.3% | | 2 | Motorola | 425,369 | 11.6% | | 3 | Sony Ericsson | 272,943 | 7.5% | | 4 | RIM | 243,957 | 6.7% | | 5 | Samsung | 109,898 | 3.0% | | | Other | 435,565 | 11.9% | | | Total | 3,651,974 | 100.0% | Source: IDC, February 3, 2003
Top 5 Vendors, Worldwide Converged Mobile Device Shipments and Market Share, 2003 (Preliminary)
| Rank | Vendor | 2003 Shipments | 2003 Market Share | | 1 | Nokia | 5,445,307 | 56.9% | | 2 | Motorola | 778,287 | 8.1% | | 3 | Sony Ericsson | 815,047 | 8.5% | | 4 | RIM | 490,263 | 5.1% | | 5 | Samsung | 284,803 | 3.0% | | | Other | 1,757,473 | 18.4% | | | Total | 9,571,180 | 100.0% | Source: IDC, February 3, 2003
Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.
Vendor Highlights
- Nokia -- Nokia slightly outpaced the market with sequential quarterly growth of 22.3% and year-over-year quarterly growth of 19.8%, easily maintaining its position as the top mobile phone manufacturer. Nokia's growth stemmed from an ongoing push in both established GSM and CDMA markets throughout the world, as well as an accelerating uptake in low penetration markets such as India, Brazil, and Russia. However, as the overall market grew during 2003, Nokia experienced a drop in annual market share from 35.0% in 2002 to 33.6% in 2003, despite an 18.3% year-over-year growth in shipments.
- Motorola -- Motorola's market share fell from 14.9% in 3Q03 to 13.4% in 4Q03 due to modest quarterly shipment increases of 9.6% sequentially and 1.1% year-over-year. This slowdown in shipments was also reflected in the vendor's year-over-year annual growth of only 1.5%, leading Motorola to a lower yet solid position as the number 2 vendor with a 14.1% market share for 2003. With over 20 new handsets launched in the third quarter, Motorola plans to increase its shipments in 1Q04.
- Samsung -- Samsung set a new internal shipment record in 4Q03, producing a sequential quarterly gain of 6.5% and year-over-year growth of 26.1%. Sales were driven mainly by strong demand for high-end handsets with imaging capabilities, pushing Samsung to 22.7% year-over-year growth for 2003. However, like the other leading vendors, the growing market pushed down Samsung's share from 10.9% in 3Q03 to 9.5% in 4Q03 and from 10.0% in 2002 to 9.9% in 2003.
- Siemens -- Siemens' market share grew from 8.7% in 3Q03 to 9.1% in 4Q03 as the company posted a sequential gain of 27% and a year-over-year gain of 38%. The vendor's additional shipments resulted in a year-over-year annual change of 24.8% and growth of 0.1% to an 8.5% market share in 2003.
- LG Electronics -- Despite continued growth by close challenger Sony Ericsson, LG Electronics maintained its number 5 spot in IDC's Top 5 Vendor List with 5.3% of the market in 4Q03, down slightly from 5.5% in 3Q03. LG experienced 17.4% sequential quarterly growth and 81.9% year-over-year quarterly growth. LG's continued push to increase shipments led to a solid 69.1% year-over-year improvement in annual shipments, placing the company at 5.2% of the market in 2003, up from 3.8% in 2002.
About IDC's worldwide mobile Phone research service
IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone QView provides device vendors, software developers, service providers, and component suppliers with quarterly measurements of worldwide mobile phone and converged mobile device unit shipments and vendor market shares. Further information about the program is available on IDC's website.
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