Samsung and LG retained second and third place, respectively, and improved their market share in Gartner's 1Q09 global handset sales rankings.

Samsung's sales totalled 51.4 million units, up from 42.4 million units in 1Q08 and enough for a 19.1 per cent share of the market (from 14.4 per cent a year earlier).

LG, meanwhile, shifted 26.5 million handsets during the quarter, up from 23.6 million in 1Q08 to take a 9.9 per cent share of the market (up from eight per cent in 1Q08).

Nokia was still way ahead of the pack with a 36.2 per cent share, but this was down from 39.1 per cent a year earlier as sales slumped from 115.1 million units to 97.4 million.

Interestingly, belegured Motorola overtook the almost as beleagured Sony Ericsson to regain fourth place.

The full 1Q09 global rankings are as follows:

Company, Sales (units 000), Share (%)
Nokia, 97,398.2, 36.2
Samsung, 51,385.4, 19.1
LG, 26,546.9, 9.9
Motorola, 16,587.3, 6.2
Sony Ericsson, 14,470.3. 5.4
Others, 62,732.0, 23.4
Source: Gartner