Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 1.211 billion units in 2009, a 0.9 percent decline from 2008, according to a study by Gartner. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the market registered a single-digit growth as mobile phone sales to end users surpassed 340 million units, an 8.3 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008. Smartphone sales to end users continued their strong growth in Q4, totalling 53.8 million units, up 41.1 percent from the same period in 2008. In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 percent increase from 2008. In 2009, smartphone-focused vendors like Apple and Research In Motion successfully captured market share from other larger device producers, controlling 14.4 and 19.9 percent of the worldwide smartphone market, respectively. Throughout 2009, intense price competition put pressure on average selling prices. The major handset producers had to respond more aggressively in markets such as China and India to compete with white-box producers, while in mature markets they competed hard with each other for market share. Gartner expects the better economic environment and the changing mix of sales to stabilise ASPs in this year. The top five vendors continued to lose market share to Apple and other vendors, with their combined share dropping from 79.7 percent in 2008 to 75.3 percent in 2009.
In 2009, Nokia's annual mobile phone sales to end users reached 441 million units, a 2.2 percent drop in market share from 2008. Although Nokia outperformed industry expectations in sales and revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, its declining smartphone ASP showed that it continues to face challenges from other smartphone vendors. Nokia will face a tough first half of this year as improvement to Symbian and new products based on the Meego platform will not reach the market well before the second half of this year, Gartner said. Samsung was in second place with 235.7 million unit shipments and was the clear winner among the top five with market share growing by 3.2 percentage points from 2008. This achievement came as a result of improved channel relationships with distributors. LG ranked third and sold 122.1 million units. Motorola sold 58.4 million units, slightly more than half of its 2008 sales and exhibited the sharpest drop in market share, accounting for 4.8 percent market share in 2009.
In the smartphone OS market, Symbian continued its lead, but its share dropped 5.4 percentage points in 2009. Competitive pressure from rivals such as RIM and Apple and the continued weakness of Nokia's high-end device sales have negatively impacted Symbian's share. Symbian 3 should be made available by the end of the first quarter and may reach the first devices by the third quarter, while Symbian 4 should be released by the end of this year. Android increased its market share by 3.5 percentage points in 2009, while Apple's share grew by 6.2 percentage points from 2008, which helped it move to the third position and displace Microsoft Windows Mobile. Android's success experienced in the fourth quarter of 2009 should continue into this year as more manufacturers launch Android products, but some CSPs and manufacturers have expressed growing concern about Google's intentions in the mobile market, Gartner said. It is expected that this year will retain a strong focus around operating systems, services and applications while hardware takes a back seat. Sales will return to low double-digit growth, but competition will continue to put a strain on vendors' margins, the market researcher predicted.
