Global handset sales decline 6% in quarter, Gartner says

Worldwide handset sales were down 6% in the second quarter, but smartphone sales continued to climb, according to new research from Gartner Inc. More than 268 million units sold globally in the quarter, and 40 million of those sales were smartphones, up 27% year over year.
Nokia remains the No. 1 handset maker, selling 105.4 million devices in the quarter, but its marketshare slipped from 39.5% a year ago to 36.8% today. Nevertheless, the Finnish-based manufacturer commands more than twice as much market share as its next strongest competitor, Samsung, which gained market share, going from 15.2% to 19.3%, selling 55.4 million units, according to Gartner estimates. The world’s No. 3 handset maker, LG, also gained market share, going from 8.8% to 10.7%.
Motorola saw its market share plunge dramatically, according to Gartner, selling 15.9 million units for 5.6% of the market, compared to the 10% market share it held in second-quarter 2008. Sony Ericsson rounded out the top five, selling 13.5 million units for 4.7% market share, down 2.8 percentage points from the 7.5% share it held at this time last year.
Nokia also dominated the smartphone market, at 45% market share, selling 18.4 million units. Research In Motion took the No. 2 spot, selling 7.7 million BlackBerries for 18.7% market share. Apple, HTC and Fujitsu rounded out the top five, respectively.