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Global
Handset Sales for 1999 and 2000 (thousands of units)
2000 2000 Market 1999 1999 Market Growth
Company Shipments Share (%) Shipments Share (%) (%)
Nokia 126,369 30.6 76,335 26.9 65.5
Motorola 60,094 14.6 47,818 16.9 25.7
Ericsson 41,467 10.0 29,785 10.5 39.2
Siemens 26,989 6.5 12,982 4.6 107.9
Panasonic 21,511 5.2 15,581 5.5 38.1
Samsung 20,639 5.0 17,687 6.2 16.7
Others 115,662 28.0 83,393 29.4 38.7
Total Market 412,731 100.0 283,581 100.0 45.5
Source: Gartner Dataquest (February 2001)
Worldwide mobile phone sales totaled 412.7 million units in 2000, a 45.5
percent increase over 1999 results, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit
of Gartner Group Inc. Despite some hiccups'' within the industry and its
key supply channels, overall shipments continued to perform well throughout
2000.
However, persistent rumors of a market slowdown that dogged the industry
throughout the year started to prove true toward the end of 2000, said Bryan
Prohm, senior analyst for Gartner Dataquest's worldwide telecommunications
group.
The afterburners that propelled several years of consistently high growth
rates now suddenly seem to have been switched off. Indeed, there is some
significant stock carry-over to the beginning of 2001, meaning the number
of total shipments in 2000 was about six million units lower than previous
estimates.
Nokia strengthened its lead as the No. 1 vendor in the market during 2000
with shipments growing 66 percent over 1999 (see Table 1). Some of the company's
success was attributed to a strong second half in 2000 when 59 percent of
sales occurred.
Gartner Dataquest analysts said 2000 was a transitional year for the mobile
phone industry, and they identified a number of issues that affected growth
in the industry. Global capacity caught up with demand. Lowered barriers
to entry allowed an influx of smaller manufacturers that were able to exploit
demand in some of the key Far Eastern markets, such as China.
Wireless application protocol (WAP) failed to impress increasingly savvy
mobile users, and thus what had been anointed as the catalyst for the next
wave of terminal sales growth turned out to be a little more than a ripple.
Finally, mobile operators began to shift attention away from straightforward
subscriber acquisition to a greater focus on lifetime customer loyalty.The
long-term prospects for the mobile sector look tough,'' said Peter Richardson,
principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's worldwide telecommunications group.
Few manufacturers are able to generate healthy profit margins, placing the
necessary investments in next-generation handsets developments at risk.
The smart money may be riding on players that are unfamiliar with the upper
echelon vendors.