Global Mobile Phone Sales Hit 190.5 Million Units In Q2 2005
Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 190.5 million units in the second quarter of 2005, up by 21.6% year on year marking the second strongest quarter for handset sales on record, according to a new report from research and analysis company, Gartner.
Explaining the continued surge in sales, Carolina Milanesi, Gartner analyst said: “The sales in the mature markets of Western Europe and North America were driven primarily by sales of phones as replacements for older models and, to a lesser extent, by first time buyers.”
She added: “In the emerging markets growth was boosted by an uptake in new connections as consumers took advantage of falling average selling prices of mobile phones.”
The continued strength of the global mobile phone market in the second quarter of 2005 reinforces Gartner’s forecasts that it will hit 780 million units by the end of the year.
Motorola was shown to be the second biggest vendor in Western Europe, behind Nokia, while in North America Motorola was the market leader with a 33.5% share.
Mobile phone sales in North America totalled nearly 35.5 million units in the second quarter of 2005, a rise of 9.4% year on year. Gartner analysts claim this was a new record of unit sales for a second quarter in the region. Latin America enjoyed an impressive quarter with sales of 25.5 million, an increase of 50% compared to the same time last year.
Gartner revealed mobile phone sales in Western Europe to have reached 37.4 million units, a rise of 9.9%, with combined sales in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa growing by 37%, hitting 33.6 million units.
Sales in Japan totalled 10 million for the quarter, down from 10.6 million year on year, however, excluding Japan, Asia/Pacific sales were up by 27.5%, reaching just over 48 million units.
Noah Elkin from eMarketer commented: “The Asia-Pacific region is the largest regional wireless market in the world, but also the primary growth engine for the wireless industry.”
He continued: “China is home to an enormous and still-expanding user population that dwarfs subscriber bases elsewhere in the world. Steep growth lies ahead for India as well, and by the end of the decade it will develop into a major force in the region in its own right.”
This prediction is confirmed by the latest edition of the Global Mobile Forecasts report from Informa Telecoms & Media, claiming that almost half of new subscriptions will be in the Asia Pacific, with India and China accounting for over 30% of the region’s total (see Global Mobile Market To Reach 3 Billion By 2010).
According to Informa, the global mobile market is expected to pass two billion subscribers by 2005 and is predicted to approach three billion by 2010.
However, while the mobile phone market keeps increasing, the rate of growth predicted is to slow from the double digit rises the market has experienced over the past few years, with shipments expected to rise by just 6% year on year, according to high-tech market research firm In-Stat (see Mobile Phone Market Starting To Slow).
The Humming Along: 2005 Mobile Phone Market Forecast shows that world-wide handset revenue is predicted to reach $112 billion in 2005, with India, China and Eastern Europe leading growth in emerging markets.