Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Increased 16 Per Cent in 2007

Mobile Phone Industry Expected to Resist Economic Downturn as Majority of Growth Will Come From Emerging Markets
Egham, UK— Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users surpassed 1.15 billion units in 2007, a 16 per cent increase from 2006 sales of 990.9 million, according to Gartner, Inc. Mobile phone sales at the end of the year were consistent with the yearly trend, as fourth quarter sales reached 330 million units.“Emerging markets, especially China and India, provided much of the growth as many people bought their first phone,” said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner, based in Egham, UK. “In mature markets, such as Japan and Western Europe, consumers’ appetite for feature-laden phones was met with new models packed with TV tuners, global positioning satellite (GPS) functions, touch screens and high-resolution cameras.”“After another strong year, we expect the growth in sales of mobile devices to end users will decelerate in 2008 and fall to about 10 per cent growth as mature markets become more saturated,” added Ms Milanesi. “However, the global mobile devices market will remain relatively immune to a recession in the US and Western European economies as the majority of growth in 2008 will come from emerging markets. The mature Western Europe and North America markets are driven by operator contract terms and replacement cycles and will account for just 30 per cent of the global mobile devices market in 2008.

2007 Sales /Market Share (%)
Nokia
435,453.1 / 37.8
Motorola
164,307.0 / 14.3
Samsung
154,540.7 / 13.4
Sony Ericsson
101,358.4 / 8.8
LG
78,576.3 /6.8
Others
218,604.3 / 18.9
TOTAL
1,152,839.8 / 100.0

Nokia achieved its long-term target of 40 per cent market share in the fourth quarter of 2007 when it sold slightly more than 133 million phones across the world. Despite some component shortages, Nokia increased its market share sequentially in all regions except North America, which remains a challenging market for the vendor. In emerging markets, products such as the 1110, the 1600 and the 2630 were in demand by consumers, while in mature markets such as Western Europe high-end phones like the N95, N82 and N73 were sought-after devices. In 2008, Nokia will need to continue to improve its portfolio, offering not only more applications and functions, but also novel designs and improved user interfaces.
In the fourth quarter of 2007, Samsung maintained second position, and although its market share slipped slightly, the gap widened between it and third-placed Motorola. Its success relied on its Ultra and Ultra II family of products. In 2008, Samsung needs to diversify its portfolio further with more form factors and colours so that single products stand out from the overall line-up.The problems that beset Motorola in the third quarter of 2007 continued through the fourth quarter, and it recorded sales of 39 million phones across the world, taking 11.9 per cent of the market. It retained second place in terms of annual sales to end users in 2007, largely thanks to the inventory it disposed of in the first half of the year. Nevertheless, the extent of Motorola's troubles can be seen in the 9.7 percentage-points market-share drop in its fourth quarter of 2007 result from the same period in 2006.Sony Ericsson ended 2007 with another positive performance, growing its market share on a quarterly basis to 9.0 per cent from 8.7 per cent. Its Cyber-shot and Walkman products, such as the K850i, K610i, W910i, K550i and W300i, remained popular among consumers around the world. As Sony Ericsson widens its reach, adding features such as Wi-Fi and GPS, as well as more low-tier products, it will stay competitive in the coming quarters.LG’s mobile phone sales totalled 23.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2007, maintaining its 7.1 per cent market share despite the increase of more than three million in sales volumes. The success of the Viewty, the Venus and the Voyager helped LG gain brand awareness across the world as well as improve its margins. Ms Milanesi commented: “In 2008, LG will need to continue strengthening its high-end portfolio for mature markets as well as its mid tier. In the low tier, LG will increasingly be challenged by vendors such as ZTE, which has already been eroding its market share in key markets such as India.”The market saw three new entrants into the top ten in the fourth quarter of 2007. These vendors included Research In Motion (RIM), ZTE and Apple. “On one hand, we have aggressive pricing and a focus on emerging markets (ZTE), and on the other, RIM with targeted functions and Apple with brand and design,” said Ms Milanesi.“Phone manufacturers need to continuously adapt their portfolios to respond to operators' demands for open platforms, lower pricing and more personalisation,” recommended Ms Milanesi. “They should also try to meet consumers' desires for fashionable, easy-to-use phones.”

Disney begins mobile service in Japan

TOKYO (AFP) — Disney launched a mobile phone service in Japan on Saturday in cooperation with Softbank Corp, entering the tough Japanese cellular phone market following its withdrawal from the the United States.
Walt Disney Japan, the local unit of Walt Disney Co., released three types of mobiles, made by Sharp, all covered with silhouette patterns of Mickey Mouse.
Disney has become Japan's first so-called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). A Walt Disney Japan official said the firm was confident of success here as Disney already had a strong following in Japan, where Tokyo Disneyland receives tens of millions of visitors every year.
Disney had already been a major content provider for mobile phones in Japan, the official said, adding that its tie-up with Softbank would also help bolster profitability of the service, named "Disney Mobile".

950 Million Users Will Access Social Networking Sites via Mobile Devices, says Pyramid Research

Pyramid Research - Mobility is set to play an important role in social networking. As social networking goes mobile, social networking sites (SNS) could play an important role in mobile operator strategies for increasing mobile data usage, according to Pyramid Research.
Today's active social networking members represent more than one-third of the total worldwide Internet user base, for a figure of 530 million members worldwide. Looking ahead, Pyramid Research expects social networking sites to gain prominence as sites add increased functionality and more people are introduced to them by friends and acquaintances. By the end of 2012, there will be 950 million users accessing social networking sites via their mobile devices.
As social networking develops as an industry, mobility will play a vital role in shaping the future. There are strong forces bringing SNS and mobility together including the industry-wide trend toward presence and personalization. For social networking sites, the ability of members to access the sites from anywhere will enhance the utility of the sites and thus the advertising revenue that the sites can generate.
For mobile operators, SNS could greatly increase mobile data usage, which has so far been lackluster in most markets, and open the door to new revenue streams from subscription fees or advertising. To that end, a broad range of handset suppliers, network equipment providers, and software developers have been making progress in addressing technical obstacles to mobile social networking -- such as the need for bandwidth, devices and browsers.

O2 sells iPhone in Ireland

O2 Ireland today confirmed that it will be the exclusive Irish carrier for Apple's revolutionary iPhone when it makes its official debut in Ireland on March 14th. iPhone combines three devices into one: a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod and the best mobile Internet device ever, all based on Apple's revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface and pioneering software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. iPhone will be sold in Ireland through O2 retail stores. The device will also be available through Carphone Warehouse retail stores. iPhone will be available in an 8GB model for €399 (inc VAT) and a 16GB model for €499 (inc VAT) and will work with either a PC or Mac. Three new iPhone tariffs will be available from O2, starting at €45, all of which will include anytime minutes, texts and a 1GB data bundle.

Commenting on the announcement, Danuta Gray, O2 Ireland CEO, said, "The iPhone is changing the way people use their mobiles forever, and we're thrilled to offer it to O2 customers in Ireland. Our strategy in Ireland continues to be to bring our customers the very best innovations and experiences in mobile communications." The activation process for customers who sign up to iPhone tariffs is very simple, with the SIM being activated immediately in-store. Once at home, all customers then have to do is sync the device to their PC or Mac, download the latest version of iTunes, follow the easy to use activation steps and the device will be ready to use.
Once activated, users can easily sync all of their phone numbers and other contact information, calendars, email accounts, web browser bookmarks, music, photos, podcasts and TV shows just like they do when they sync their iPods with iTunes.