Gartner says mobile terminal sales grew 22 percent in third quarter of 2003—market could reach half a billion units in 2003 - Market Intelligence - Brief Article

Mobile Internet, The, Dec, 2003

The mobile terminal industry exceeded expectations in the third quarter of 2003, as worldwide mobile phone sales totaled 132.8 million units, a 22 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Gartner Inc.

The competition among the top tier vendors is heating up, and industry leader Nokia's market share decreased in the third quarter as it faced strong competition from Siemens and Samsung. LG moved into the top five, narrowly pushing Sony Ericsson into the sixth position.

In the mature markets, color mobile terminals are a growing proportion of total sales, with the volume of camera phones also increasing. Gartner analysts said demand for low-cost terminals has also continued. The Worldwide Mobile Terminal Sales to End Users Estimates for 3Q03 are: Nokia, with a 35.5 percent market share; Motorola, with a 15.8 percent share; Samsung, a 10.5 percent share; and Siemens, with a 7.4 market share.