Mobile Sales Stagnant In 2009, Samsung, RIM and Android See Gains
By Chris Weiss
Market analytical firm Gartner has released its worldwide mobile sales numbers for 2009. Overall, sales declined .9 percent from 2008; however, the fourth quarter showed signs of a stronger market with an 8.3 percent bounce from Q4 2008. Smartphones helped to fuel the late-year bounce and experienced a 23.8 percent increase during the year to 172.4 million units.
As far as individual manufacturers, Nokia continued to dominate the market with a 36.4 percent share. However, Nokia’s sales declined by over 2 percent market share while other brands like #2 Samsung (19.5 percent 2009 market share) and #3 LG (10.1 percent share) grew during the year. Motorola and Sony Ericsson also experienced a declining market share.
In terms of OS, Symbian captured nearly half of the worldwide market with a 46.9 percent, but dropped from 2008′s 52.4 percent market share. Meanwhile Android, RIM and iPhone OS all experienced significant market gains with the iPhone OS seeing the biggest boost–6.2 percent. WinMo, on the other hand, had a 3.1 percent decline in market share.
We’ll see how 2010′s changing mobile landscape, including all the new Android handsets and the release of Windows Phone 7, shakes up the marketplace. [Gartner via Engadget]
