Global mobile phone sales have increased again in the third quarter, and this trend is expected to continue thanks to the latest generation of mobile phones, as highlighted in the latest study by the analytical firm Gartner.
The study showed that mobile phone sales in the third quarter of this year increased by 0.1 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Sales of the latest generation of mobile phones that offer internet access and other multimedia services increased by 12.8 percent to 41 million devices in the same quarterly period, Gartner further emphasizes. A total of 308.9 million mobile phones were sold worldwide from July to September. Gartner expects this trend to accelerate by the end of this year, with growth ranging from five to seven percent in 2010, when the market for the latest generation of mobile phones is expected to grow by as much as 48 percent.
Sales of Apple’s iPhone jumped nearly 50 percent in the third quarter. The iPhone now accounts for 17.1 percent of total global sales of the latest mobile phones, compared to 12.9 percent a year earlier. Gartner estimates that Apple, the third largest manufacturer of the latest generation of mobile phones in the world, will see further sales growth in the fourth quarter due to its penetration into the Chinese market and 16 other countries. Finnish Nokia remains in first place in the world for mobile phone sales, although its market share in the third quarter decreased to 36.7 percent, down from 38.2 percent in the same quarter of 2008. South Korean Samsung is in second place with 19.6 percent of the market, up from last year’s 17.1 percent. American Motorola and the Japanese-Swedish group Sony Ericsson recorded a decline in sales on an annual basis of more than 40 percent. (H)
