Over 156.4 million mobile phones were sold in the second quarter of 2004, a 35% increase from the comparative quarter of 2003, says Gartner.
The international research firm`s analysts say all regions experienced healthy sales of mobile phones in the second quarter.
"In mature markets, such as Western Europe and North America, sales of replacement handsets ensured strong results, while spectacular growth in emerging markets, notably Latin America, further boosted unit sales," says Ben Wood, principal analyst for mobile terminals research at Gartner.
[TABLE]Gartner says that in the second quarter of 2004, Nokia suffered a decline in market share compared with the second quarter of last year (see table). However, the company increased its market share from the first quarter of this year, when its market share totalled 28.9%.
Wood says Nokia`s price cuts gave it a small gain in market share compared to the first quarter, although the average selling price of its handsets fell in the second quarter.
He says Motorola maintained its second position based on a strong performance in the Americas, but Gartner expects Samsung to be battling with Motorola for the number two position for the remainder of the year.
Gartner says Motorola`s market share slipped slightly in the second quarter compared with the first quarter of this year as it focused on profitability. Nevertheless, it experienced a solid quarter with strong performances in North America and Latin America, but lost market share in China.
Samsung had a successful quarter in terms of shipments. However, Gartner`s analysis shows not all of this volume reached end-users, resulting in a gap between sell-in volumes and end-user sales in North America. Gartner analysts say this backed-up inventory should sell in the third quarter.
On a regional basis, the Western European market is driven by consumers who got their first mobile phones in 2000 and 2001, and are now upgrading to smaller colour screen phones with built-in cameras that have become available at much lower prices.
Brazil continued to be the driving force in Latin America, although Mexico also contributed strong sales in the region. Other countries, such as Argentina, are showing signs of recovery from the economic downturn.
Gartner says replacement sales were high in North America as operators subsidised enhanced handsets, and consumers were willing to upgrade to devices with more features, especially camera phones.
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