Global Handset Shipments Fall at Fastest Rate in History during Q1 2009

Boston, MA - April 30, 2009 - According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global mobile handset shipments fell a huge 13 percent year-over-year, to reach 245 million units in Q1 2009. De-stocking by cautious retailers and a worldwide economic downturn caused handset shipments to fall at their fastest rate in the industry's 27-year history.

Alex Spektor, Analyst at Strategy Analytics said, "Global handset shipments fell to 245 million units during Q1 2009, down a huge 13 percent from 282 million units a year earlier. A global economic downturn and cautious de-stocking by retailers caused the slowdown. Our records indicate that Q1 2009 represented the fastest ever decline in annual shipment growth since the modern cellphone industry began in 1983."

Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, "The first quarter of 2009 was an exceptionally tough period. Shipment growth contracted for all the top five major vendors, forcing some of them, such as Nokia, to rein in costs and slash thousands of jobs. However, one bright spot was found among the smartphone specialists. Apple, for example, more than doubled its volumes year-over-year due to healthy demand for its wildly popular 3G iPhone."

Other findings from Strategy Analytics' Q1 2009 Global Handset Market Share Update report include:

Samsung was again the top performer among the big five vendors during Q1 2009. Samsung's global market share hit an all-time high of 19 percent. Its success has been driven by an attractive portfolio of handsets for the high-growth touchscreen and QWERTY messaging markets;
Apple shipped a better-than-expected 3.8 million iPhones worldwide in Q1 2009, up a healthy 123 percent from 1.7 million units in Q1 2008. Apple's 3.8 million iPhone shipments exceeded those of one of its main touchscreen rivals, the Nokia 5800, which recorded slightly lower global volumes of 2.6 million units during the quarter.

Global Mobile Handset Shipments and Marketshare -- Top 5 Vendors

Global Handset Shipments (Millions of Units)	Q1 '08	2008	Q1 '09
Nokia	115.5	468.4	93.2
Samsung	46.3	196.6	45.8
LG Electronics	24.4	100.8	22.6
Motorola	27.4	100.1	14.7
Sony Ericsson	22.3	96.6	14.5
Others	46.5	214.8	53.7
Total	282.4	1177.3	244.5

Global Handset Marketshare %	Q1 '08	2008	Q1 '09
Nokia	40.9%	39.8%	38.1%
Samsung	16.4%	16.7%	18.7%
LG Electronics	8.6%	8.6%	9.2%
Motorola	9.7%	8.5%	6.0%
Sony Ericsson	7.9%	8.2%	5.9%
Others	16.5%	18.2%	22.0%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Total Growth Year-over-Year	14.3%	4.9%	-13.4%


Read related report

Press release contact

Neil Mawston

Phone number: +44 1908 423628

Email: Contact me