Global mobile phone shipments fell 10 per cent in 4Q 2008. Yes, you read it right. They fell.
After years of upwards movement, the dire world economy put the brakes on handset sales in 2008.According to Strategy Analytics, global mobile phone shipments hit 295 million units in 4Q 2008 from 329 million units in Q4 2007.
Bonny Joy, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics said, “An economic downturn in developed and developing markets caused the industry’s slowest growth rate since Q4 2001. Retailers have been de-stocking due to credit tightness, while consumers delayed purchases because of fears of a recession.”
The results were especially dismal for Motorola, SE and Nokia. Motorola declined 54 per cent, Sony Ericsson 21 per cent and Nokia 15 per cent. Even Apple shipped a lower-than-expected 4.4 million iPhones worldwide in Q4 2008. Apple’s annual growth rate of 88 per cent was below the 516 per cent it registered in the previous quarter.
4Q 2008 Global Mobile Handset Shipments
Vendor Shipments
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Nokia 113.1
Samsung 52.8
LG 25.7
Motorola 19.0
Sony Ericsson 24.2
Others 59.8
Global Handset Market Share
Nokia 38.4%
Samsung 17.9%
LG 8.7%
Motorola 6.4%
Sony Ericsson 8.2%
Others 20.3%
