Global shipments of mobile handsets grew 19% year-over-year during Q1 2010, according to ABI Research.
In total, 303 million mobile handsets shipped worldwide during Q1 2010. This puts annual global mobile handset shipments on pace to reach about 1.3 billion in 2010. Strongest handset shipment growth was seen in the Middle East and Africa (20% year-over-year) followed by the Americas, particularly the US (11%). Europe, on the other hand, is languishing with single-digit growth. It is also notable that 3G handset shipments eclipsed 2G handset shipments globally.
Nokia Ships One-third of Handsets
Nokia held one-third (34%) of global mobile handset market share during Q1 2010. New smartphones such as the N8 are helping Nokia to shore up its handset portfolio, according to ABI Research analysis, as its loss of traction in the smartphone sector hit sales hard. Revamped efforts in Nokia’s Symbian product line are intended to help it regain momentum.
Second-place Samsung also had a strong first quarter, securing 21% market share. Samsung has been cultivating deeper relationships with US and European carriers, which ABI says helped the firm grow its shipments 40.2% year-over-year.
No other manufacturer held a double-digit market share in Q1 2010. Third-place LG’s 8.9% market share has suffered from a weak smartphone portfolio in the North American market. However, LG’s shipments grew 20% year-over-year.
Motorola came in seventh place overall with 2.8% market share, but ABI says the company is benefiting from its initial success with the Droid and is keen to back it up with new products such as the Quench, but the market is overtaking it. The quarter proved to be strong for Apple, which held 2.9% market share with 8.75 million devices shipped. According to ABI, this represents a 130% year-over-year increase in global handset volume.
HD Mobile Voice Surge Expected
The use of high definition (HD) mobile handsets, virtually nonexistent in 2010, should begin ramping up 2013 and surge in 2014, according to other data from ABI Research. Usage of HD mobile handsets, which a barely registerable number of worldwide mobile subscribers began acquiring in 2009, is expected to trickle upward through the rest of this year and the first half of 2011.
Following the ramp-up in mobile HD handset usage in 2013, an explosion in mobile HD handset subscribers is expected to occur in 2014, with strong increases in the Asia-Pacific and North American markets driving global numbers. The total number of worldwide subscribers should reach close to 150 million by the end of the year, and 487 million by 2015.
