According to a recent survey from Gartner, Nokia's increased handset sales in the final quarter of 2005 boosted its market share to 35 percent, almost twice as much as the share of its next biggest competitor, Motorola. Nokia's share rose from 33 percent year-over-year. Overall, the handset industry sold a total of 816.6 million units last year, a 21 percent increase from the year before. Nearly every major OEM increased its market share at the expense of smaller players.
Motorola had 17.8 percent market share, up from 16.3 percent the previous year thanks in large part to its popular RAZR handsets and cheaper models for emerging markets. LG Electronics' share also increased from 6.8 percent to 7.2 percent, and analysts say the company should continue to enjoy market growth since Vodafone recently announced it would start selling the brand. Sony Ericsson's share also rose from 6.3 percent to 6.9 percent because of its increasingly popular Walkman and camera phones. Samsung was the only major handset maker to lose market share, down to 12.1 percent. Gartner said Nokia is now within reach of its 40 percent market share goal.
For more on Nokia's handset sales:
- see this article from AFX