Aggressive tactics from some device manufacturers and conservative moves by others are causing a shift in global handset market share, according to new research from IDC.
According to IDC, Nokia Corp.’s market share has dropped to 27.7 percent, having shipped 45.4 million units last quarter. Second-place Motorola Inc. has a 14.7-percent market share, having shipped 24.1 million units, with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. trailing closely with a 13.9-percent market share and 22.7 million units shipped.
Fourth place is now almost too close to call with Siemens AG and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications each totaling 10.4 million unit shipments and 6.4-percent market shares, and LG creeping up with 9.94 million units shipped totaling 6.1-percent market share. Other manufacturers accounted for 40.8 million units, or 24.9 percent of the market, bringing the overall industry total units shipped to 164.7 million units.
“During the second quarter of 2004, Samsung and LG demonstrated an ability to execute on a clear plan to improve their market share by injecting creativity into their mid-range products. Conversely, Nokia and Siemens continued to pursue conservative strategies formulated prior to today’s increasingly competitive environment,” said David Linsalata, analyst at IDC. “In the face of aggressive competition for market share, these vendors must closely monitor consumer demand and prove their commitment by delivering the technologies and features in demand by mass-market consumers.”
Meanwhile, Gartner Inc. said personal digital assistants are finally gaining market share, appearing to not yet be threatened by smart-phone sales.
According to the analyst group, PDA shipments totaled 2.75 million units in the second quarter of 2004, up 12 percent from the second quarter of 2003, ending 10 consecutive quarters of shipment declines. Gartner expects total PDA shipments to reach 12 million units for full-year 2004.
Gartner said Research in Motion’s BlackBerry shipments increased 289 percent in the second quarter and Hewlett-Packard’s PDA shipments increased 38.9 percent.
For PDA operating system shipments, Palm OS garnered 41.7 percent market share for the second quarter, down from 51 percent for the year-ago period. Windows CE’s market share reached 36.6 percent, up slightly from 36.3 percent last year, and RIM’s share increased to 18.6 percent from 5.3 percent last year.
“Smart phones will continue to impact the PDA market. However, the high prices of smart phones and their relative immaturity will prevent a rapid shift from PDAs,” said Todd Kort, principal analyst in Gartner’s computing platforms worldwide group. “Instead, the vast majority of smart-phone sales in the next year will be to individuals upgrading their cell phones. The palmOne Treo is one of the few exceptions.”
