Global Mobile Shipments Jump 23% In 2003
The global market for mobile phones continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2003, with shipments reaching a record high of 167.8 million units, up 29.7% year on year, according to IDC.
In Western Europe and the US users have begun to replace their existing mobile phones with new 2.5G models, as the need for 3G remains unproven, according to IDC analyst David Linsalata.
Contained within the volume of worldwide mobile phone shipments, the market for converged mobile devices, or “smartphones,” showed significant growth and future promise. Converged devices combine the facilities of two technologies that were previously separate, such as a phone and camera, or a phone and PDA.
In Q4 2003, the worldwide converged mobile device market grew 182.3% year on year to 3.7 million units. The strong Q4 sales drove worldwide shipments for 2003 up 181.6% year on year to 9.6 million devices.
Nokia was by far the dominant manufacturer in 2003, taking a third of all mobile phone shipments worldwide, according to preliminary estimates. In second place is Motorola, with a share of 14.1%.
| Top Five Mobile Vendors In 2003 (Preliminary) | ||
| Shipments (million) | Market Share (%) | |
| Nokia | 179.3 | 33.6 |
| Motorola | 75.4 | 14.1 |
| Samsung | 53.0 | 939.0 |
| Siemens | 45.3 | 8.5 |
| LG Electronics | 27.5 | 5.2 |
| Other | 152.7 | 28.6 |
| Total | 533.4 | 100.0 |
| Source: IDC, February 2004 | ||
