Driven by strong fourth quarter growth, worldwide mobile phone sales surpassed 674 million units in 2004, a 30 percent increase from 2003 according to Gartner. Worldwide mobile phone sales grew 24 percent in quarter four compared to the same quarter in 2003. After a tough start to the year, Nokia rebounded with a fourth quarter 2004 market share of 33 percent. In the fourth quarter, Motorola regained its second position ahead of Samsung with higher than expected growth. Motorola's revitalised brand, due largely to the positive reviews of the RAZR V3, helped lead strong sales in Europe and North America. This was combined with aggressive pricing in emerging markets, particularly in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Samsung increased its brand awareness in 2004, particularly in China, and it also demonstrated market leadership in some areas such as multi-mega pixel camera phones. To challenge Motorola and Nokia Gartner analysts said Samsung will need to change its strategy and expand its product portfolio into the high volume, lower margin segment.
