Analyzing the world's 10 biggest handset makers in Q4

The numbers are in, and it's time to make sense of the data. ABI's Michael Morgan checks out the world's 10 largest branded cell phone makers in the fourth quarter of 2009, providing sales data as well as insight into their strategy and competitive position in the market.

Though most research firms only list the market's top five handset makers, ABI lists the full top 10 (but, for competitive reasons, ABI does not disclose shipments numbers for the Tier 2 players).

A few notes: ABI's numbers represent "sell in," or phone shipments into the retail channel, rather than "sell out," or sales to consumers. Further, ABI's ranking only counts phones that carry the manufacturer's brand. Therefore, phones that bandy a carrier's logo without a hint of which company actually built the device are not counted.

And see ABI's first quarter rankings, second quarter rankings and third quarter rankings.

Handset shipments (in millions) by vendor
Vendor	4Q 2008	3Q 2009	4Q 2009	QoQ  (3Q09-4Q09)	YoY (4Q08-4Q09)	Analysis from ABI's Michael Morgan	2008	2009	YoY
	113.1	108.5	126.9	17.0%	12.2%	If you haven't heard of Nokia, then you probably live under a rock in the U.S., which is the only market on the planet that Nokia does not dominate. Nokia's portfolio of handsets covers every segment from low-cost to high-end smartphones and everything in between. Much like the handset market at large, most of Nokia's volume comes from lower-end handsets with slim profit margins. While Nokia's smartphones are popular in Western Europe, Nokia has yet to decipher the code to developing a hero device for the smartphone segment. Instead of developing a new smartphone, Nokia leveraged its economy of scale in Q4, offering price reductions that triggered a Nokia smartphone buying spree and drove the segment to a 25 percent QoQ gain.	467.6	432.1	-8%
	52.8	60.2	68.8	14.3%	30.3%	Samsung captured the No. 2 market share position from Motorola in 2007 and has been steadily closing in on Nokia for the past two years. Buoyed by success in the U.S. and APAC markets, and a broad handset portfolio that can meet the needs of almost any carrier, Samsung  continues to solidify its position despite the economic downturn that hurt most of its rivals. While most of the fastest rising handset vendors have been riding the strong growth of smartphones, Samsung has been able drive growth by properly identifying the trend in touchscreen feature phones and delivering on its heritage of unique and desirable handset functionality. Samsung plans to further its momentum through a renewed focus on the smartphone segment and their own smartphone OS called bada.	196.6	227.1	16%
	25.7	31.6	33.9	7.3%	31.9%	With popular handsets such as the Envy, Venus and Chocolate lines, LG has quietly and methodically grown its market share to surpass Sony Ericsson in 2008 and grab the No.3 position. Much like a younger brother to Samsung, LG has kept a consistent set of low- to mid-end handsets on carrier shelves that are quietly meeting the needs of consumers who have not caught the smartphone bug. Just like Samsung, LG has claimed that they will be aggressively growing their smartphone presence, but have yet to reveal a definitive strategy for accomplishing their "me too" claim.	100.8	117.9	17%
	24.2	13.1	14.6	11.5%	-39.7%	Much like Samsung, Sony Ericsson handsets are focused towards the middle of the road. Unfortunately, Sony Ericsson failed to capitalize on the touchscreen sensation that has swept the feature phone market. Due to the string of continued losses, Sony Ericsson has begun to reconsider its strategy of phones targeted solely towards music or photos and will be thinking about a family of phones that offer converged functionality. Sony Ericsson is also showing off its newly developed smartphone line up to a resounding... meh. Originally intended for release in Q1 2010, Sony Ericsson has decided to let their smartphones bake a little more before releasing them in the wild.	97.1	56.0	-42%
	19.0	13.8	12.0	-13.0%	-36.8%	Even if a leopard can change its spots, it still takes time. The fourth quarter hit was the Motorola Droid, with 1.5 million units sold. Add to this Motorola's other Android handsets such as the Cliq, and the Backflip and one begins to see a whole new Motorola (or is it a flash of the old Motorola?). Granted, one successful handset is never enough to save a global company the size of Motorola, but then again Motorola has no intentions of stopping at just one handset. Leaving their feature and low-end portfolio of handsets to ODMs, Motorola is intent on returning to profitability through a suite of Android powered smartphones and its proprietary UI called MotoBLUR.	100.0	55.2	-45%
				25.6%	59.7%	If you want to know how to run a smartphone business, just watch Research In Motion. Quarter after quarter BlackBerry continually outperforms the market and its competition. Its focus on the smartphone market with best-in-class email capabilities has developed and maintained its popularity with business users and consumers alike. BlackBerry has continued its international expansion delivering more than 30 percent of its devices outside of North America. With the introduction of an application store for BlackBerry devices and improved BES offerings, RIM continues to keep customers happy on all fronts. RIMs refreshed line of Curves and Bolds keeps what works and improves where it can. Although ABI expects continued growth from RIM, it is becoming increasingly important that RIM address its weakness in the browser technology arena.			52%
				13.2%	38.8%	ZTE is one of China's largest telecommunications manufacturers producing a variety of hardware products including base stations, handsets, switching systems, optical transport and more. ZTE's global strategy has developed relationships with major telecoms in every region. ZTE has made a name for itself with low cost handsets in emerging/developing markets and has  built relationships with Tier 1 carriers in the U.S. through its cellular modems and Tier 2 carriers with low-cost handsets. Leveraging manufacturing locations in 50 countries, ZTE is able to deliver low cost handsets either under the ZTE brand or white label devices for carrier branded handsets to large operators such as Vodafone. ZTE's focus on emerging market will serve it well as these segments are predicted to deliver the greatest number of new wireless customers in the coming years. ZTE is also intensifying its efforts to develop its brand strength and recognition in the U.S. where it hopes to generate 50 percent of its U.S. revenues from handset sales. With strong carrier relationships to leverage into handset sales and some Android smartphones to show Verizon and Sprint, ZTE is still one to keep an eye on.			12%
				17.6%	99.4%	Apple rang in its best quarter ever in Q4 with 8.7 million iPhones. The iPhone continues its role as a global smartphone ambassador with successful arrivals in South Korea, China, new carriers in Western Europe and a growing cult following in Japan. Speculation as to how Apple will top the 3GS with the next iPhone iteration has already begun with Steve Jobs promising consumers a home run. ABI believes some pro-sumers may have trouble deciding whether to spend their money on the iPad or the new iPhone, but either way Apple will continue to own much of the mobile devices market mindshare.			83%
				13.2%	4.4%	Kyocera returned to the top 10 this quarter with 4.5 million handsets shipped. Part of a subsidiary to the larger Kyocera Corporation, Kyocera Communications Inc. is the sales and marketing brains behind Kyocera handsets and the recently acquired Sanyo brand. Historically, Kyocera has developed mid- to low-end CDMA handsets to some success with Tier 2 carriers such as MetroPCS. This year, Kyocera has leveraged its acquisition of the Sanyo brand and technologies to deliver a line of handsets that are being sold through Tier 1 carrier Sprint and Sprint's prepaid segment Boost. Kyocera is continuing to find ways to reach new customers despite its lack of brand awareness and continues to pursue growth in LATAM, U.S. and GSM markets.			-10%
				13.2%	49.9%	Much like ZTE, Huawei is one of China's leading telecom infrastructure companies, with a strong global reach in all regions. Huawei is also in the business of making low-cost and white-label devices alongside their branded devices. Huawei has extended its low-cost capabilities into the smartphone space with the T-Mobile Pulse, an Android-based entry level smartphone for prepaid consumers. Huawei also carries aspirations of penetrating the U.S. market and is actively developing its portfolio to meet the tastes of U.S. carriers. ABI expects that Huawei will continue to rise in the rankings as it rides the growth in emerging markets and increases the breadth of its handset portfolio.			35%
Source: ABI Research