Mobile Phone Sales

Report: RIM owns half the smartphone market

Sue Marek — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:52:27 -0400

The BlackBerry still rocks when it comes to smartphone buyers. Research firm IDC says that in the second quarter Research in Motion (maker of the BlackBerry) captured more than 50 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, up from 44.5 percent in first quarter.

IDC attributes the increase to the release of new BlackBerry CDMA devices such as the Curve and the Pearl for Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless networks. Curve was launched with both networks in the second quarter of this year, while Pearl was launched with the two networks in the fourth quarter of last year.

Meanwhile, IDC says that Apple lost share in the second quarter. Apple's share declined as consumers waited for the July release of the iPhone 3G.

For more:
- see this article

Related articles:
U.S. smartphone market is tough to crack
Mobile phone sales will reach 1.28B in 2008

Report: Smartphone sales up 16%

Sue Marek — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 11:12:38 -0400

Research firm Gartner says that second-quarter worldwide smartphone sales are up 15.7 percent, totaling 32.2 million units. However, Roberta Cozza, principal analyst with Gartner, says that while sales are up, the increase is at a lower rate than it was in 2007. "The current economic environment continues to negatively impact the market, limiting consumer spending and replacement purchases in general," Cozza says.

The North American market is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets. In second quarter of 2008 North America had an increase of 78.7 percent in sales year over year accounting for almost 25 percent of all global smartphone sales.

For more:
- See this article

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Global smartphone sales grow 29 percent in Q1
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Mobile phone sales will reach 1.28B in 2008

Sue Marek — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:07:08 -0400

Research firm Gartner says that worldwide mobile phone sales will top 1.28 billion units in 2008, an 11 percent increase over last year. Handset sales reached 294.3 million in first quarter 2008 and the analyst firm expects sales in the second quarter to be between 300 million and 305 million. For the third quarter, Gartner expects a slight increase in sales over second quarter but only slight because both Motorola and LG issued warnings about a sequential drop in sales.

Gartner predicts handset makers will rely more on emerging markets to reach their growth projections. The firm expects Asia-Pacific to have a 17.9 percent increase in mobile phone sales in 2008 reaching 472.5 million. Meanwhile, Western Europe will experience a 1.5 percent decline from last year to reach 188 million in sales. North America will have a decline of 5.3 percent to reach 185.7 million in sales.

Avian Securities analyst Matt Thornton concurs with Gartner. He believes that mobile phone sales will reach nearly 1.3 billion units in 2008 and average selling prices (ASP) for phones will decline 8 percent year-over-year as sales shift to higher growth emerging markets.

For more:
- see this press release

Related articles:
Handset sales slowing in U.S. amid worsening economy
Handset sales sluggish thanks to weak economy

Sony Ericsson issues profit warning

Sue Marek — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:38:51 -0400

Sony Ericsson says that its second-quarter sales and net income will take a hit because of slowing demand for its mobile phones and new product shipping delays. The handset maker estimates it will just break even in the second quarter.

The company says demand for high-end phones is challenging and predicts it will ship about 24 million phones in the quarter with an average selling price of about $181 each. This compares to first quarter when Sony Ericsson shipped 22.3 million units with an average selling price of $190.50.

This is the company's second profit warning this year and is a sign that the joint venture is still having problems in this fiercely competitive sector. The warning is also an indication that mobile phone sales are not responding well to the economic downturn. Earlier this week several brokerage firms reduced their 2008 handset sales forecasts and predicted that many manufacturers would feel the pinch through the end of the year.

For more:
- read this article

Related stories:
Handset sales sluggish thanks to weak economy
Sony Ericsson ships 22.3M phones in 1Q

Handset sales slowing in U.S. amid worsening economy

Lynnette Luna — Tue, 20 May 2008 11:13:50 -0400

Good and bad news for the U.S. mobile wireless industry when it comes to the worsening economy. The bad news: Consumers' purchases of new mobile devices declined in the first quarter for the first time in many years. The good news: The decline tended to concentrate around customers using prepaid and among the middle class. The higher end market that features higher ARPU customers that heavily use the more sophisticated devices continued to grow.

The Wall Street Journal cites two new studies that indicate falling handset sales in the first quarter. Strategy Analytics reported a 5 percent decline in the quarter compared with the previous year, while NPD Group reported a 22-percent drop in the purchase of new devices in the first quarter. Also, Bernstein Research estimates that U.S. mobile operators added 23 percent fewer subscribers in the first quarter compared with the first quarter in 2007. The firm is anticipating that growth will continue to slow and said that the segment experiencing the most slowdown is new subscriptions for children under 12 and for "deeply sub prime users, and it's reasonable to think that in a weak economy, that both of these populations would be strapped," said analyst Craig Moffett. Prepaid MVNO Virgin Mobile is being squeezed by the economy.

However, NPD estimates that high-end devices made up 17 percent of all mobile-phone sales in the first quarter, in increase of 10 percentage points since the first quarter 2007.

To read more about the economy's impact on the U.S. mobile-phone market:
- check out this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

Related articles:
- Virgin Mobile's growing troubles Editorial on Virgin Mobile's slowing net additions
- Virgin Mobile USA: Poor earnings economy's fault

ALSO NOTED: M-payments trends; Usage-Cancer link? and much more...

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> The NPD Group's latest report found that mobile phone sales to consumers in the U.S. reached 146 million units by the end of 2007 with total consumer sales of $11.5 billion, after rebates and promotions. Release

> The Wall Street Journal chronicles the mobile payments trend. Article (sub. req.)

> Another piece from the WSJ Asia that sums up the influence Apple and Google are beginning to exert in the wireless industry. Article (sub. req.)

And Finally... Another study links cancer to heavy mobile phone usage. Article

Report: U.S. Mobile phone sales revenue increased 47%

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:59:56 -0500

According to a recent report from the NPD Group, mobile phone sales to U.S. consumers increased to 38 million units sold in the third quarter. The shipments brought in $3.2 billion in revenue, a 47 percent increase from the same period last year. The percentage of smartphones sold also increased from 4 percent in Q3 2006 to 11 percent during the third quarter of 2007, which marks a 163 percent increase year-on-year. Certain features also grew in popularity during the third quarter: 72 percent of phones sold were Bluetooth capable, 50 percent were able to play music and 11 percent were smartphones, NPD found.

According to the report, Motorola sold 31 percent of the phones during the quarter, while LG sold 17 percent. Samsung came in a close third with 16 percent of the market, while Nokia trailed with 11 percent and Sanyo had 4 percent.

For more on NPD's report:
- read this release

Report: Kyocera set to buy Sanyo's mobile unit

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Reports continue to circulate that Sanyo's mobile unit is on the chopping block, now Nikkei reports that Kyocera is in the final stages of a deal to acquire the unit for $435 million. Sanyo's handset business has struggled to compete with Nokia, Motorola and other handset makers, which is one of the reasons it hired Goldman Sachs to restructure its business and shed struggling business units. According to Gartner, Kyocera was the 10th largest handset maker in the world by unit sales, while Sanyo was the 11th.

Sanyo, however, denies the reports regarding a deal with Kyocera: "Regarding the mobile phone handset business (excluding the mobile phone sales agents), Sanyo is considering all possibilities for development and growth," the company said in a statement. "These media reports were not based upon an official announcement by SANYO and it is not a fact that SANYO has made a decision to sell this business."

For more on Sanyo's rumored deal with Kyocera:
- read this press release from Sanyo
- check out this article from The Inquirer

ALSO NOTED: China's users buy 71.5M in H1; Ofcom says mobile Internet usage surging; and much more...

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:59:50 -0400

> China's domestic mobile phone sales in H1 topped 71.5 million. Article

> DoCoMo takes a hit during price war. Article (WSJ sub. req.)

> Ofcom: Mobile Internet usage about to explode. Report

> Latest study: Mobile usage slows brain function but heightens focused attention. Article

> IBM's new chipset technology will shave $1 dollar off every mobile device. Article

And Finally... AT&T is launching a $1.5 million grant program to help nonprofits integrate wireless services and hardware into education outreach. Release