In Western Europe, sales of mobile phones totaled 49.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2005 and 164 million units in 2005. Consumers took advantage of Christmas promotions and upgraded their phones to newer and trendier phones. The trend in the fourth quarter was all about fashion, with phones such as the Motorola pink razr v3 and the Siemens CL75 Poppy capturing consumers' interest,. In countries such as the UK, people were even prepared to subscribe to a new contract before their existing contract ended in order to acquire the pink razr phone.
The same trend of upgrading to trendier phones occurred in the more mature markets in Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEMEA), as first time subscribers continued to join networks and mobile phone sales for the year reached 153.5 million units. The region's growth in 2006 to be fuelled by increased replacement sales in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, but mainly by new subscriber growth in Africa.
In North America, the fourth quarter was a record quarter with mobile phone sales reaching 41.3 million units. In 2005, sales reached 148.4 million units. Consumers continued to upgrade their phones with camera devices and unique form factors such as the Motorola razr V3. The region also experienced strong growth in the prepaid phone segment.
Sales of mobile phones in Latin America reached nearly 102 million units in 2005, a 40 percent increase from 2004. However, the explosive growth experienced over the past few quarters is slowing. We expect year on year growth in the region in 2006 to be in the high single-digits.
In Asia/Pacific, mobile phone sales reached 56.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2005 and 204 million units in 2005. Sales in the region were fuelled by key markets such as China and India. In China, sales were driven by strong growth in global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), while in India, subscriber additions in November and December exceeded all previous performances.
Mobile phone sales in Japan totaled 11.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2005, and totaled 45 million units for the year. Music player functionality fuelled replacement sales especially by young users.
Looking ahead to results for the first quarter of 2006 , Chinese New Year, prolonged Christmas and New Year sales promotions in Western Europe and North America, as well as continued growth in emerging markets, will all contribute to strong sales in the first quarter of 2006. Based on preliminary data for the first two months we expect to see a similar trend as in the first quarter of 2005 with a drop over the previous quarter in the region of five to eight percent.More information is available in the Gartner report Market Share: Mobile Terminals, worldwide, 4Q05 and 2005.
Worldwide mobile phone sales
Publ 20060228
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