According to IDC, the Western European mobile phone market grew by 7% year on year in the second quarter of 2006 as shipments reached 41.4m units.
Attractive pre-pay bundles and the introduction of “highly compelling” feature phones meant healthy renewal cycles in Q2.
These numbers reflect a solid growth, says IDC, despite signs that this growth in the traditional mobile phone market is unsustainable as subscriber saturation in most Western European markets moves beyond 100% and operators continue to scrutinise costs and downsize portfolios.
Vendor highlights:
• Nokia: growth of 11% year on year and shipments of 14.5m ensured the Finnish vendor’s market share grew to 35% in Q2. Key products were 6233, 6234 and the 6280 slider.
• Motorola healthy growth in Europe as shipments of 7.1m units drove year-on-year shipment increases of 21% and a market share of 17%. The SLVR L7 and PEBL continued to feature prominently.
• Samsung: despite a wave of new products, Samsung struggled in Q2 as volumes declined by 16% year on year and market share slipped to 12% in the face of strong competition.
• Sony Ericsson: year-on-year growth remained healthy in Q2 at 11% with shipments of 4.5m – carefully positioned high-end multimedia devices and the success in particular of the K800 drove market share to 11%.
• BenQ Siemens: growth of 17% over the year-ago quarter that saw BenQ acquire Siemens’ handset business. “Although devices such as the EF81 began to capture operator and consumer mindshare in parallel with aggressive promotional campaigns, the vendor faces substantial
challenges in the heavily-populated high-end segment.”
Vendor highlights:
• Nokia: growth of 11% year on year and shipments of 14.5m ensured the Finnish vendor’s market share grew to 35% in Q2. Key products were 6233, 6234 and the 6280 slider.
• Motorola healthy growth in Europe as shipments of 7.1m units drove year-on-year shipment increases of 21% and a market share of 17%. The SLVR L7 and PEBL continued to feature prominently.
• Samsung: despite a wave of new products, Samsung struggled in Q2 as volumes declined by 16% year on year and market share slipped to 12% in the face of strong competition.
• Sony Ericsson: year-on-year growth remained healthy in Q2 at 11% with shipments of 4.5m – carefully positioned high-end multimedia devices and the success in particular of the K800 drove market share to 11%.
• BenQ Siemens: growth of 17% over the year-ago quarter that saw BenQ acquire Siemens’ handset business. “Although devices such as the EF81 began to capture operator and consumer mindshare in parallel with aggressive promotional campaigns, the vendor faces substantial
challenges in the heavily-populated high-end segment.”
Western European mobile phone shipments: Q2 2006
Vendor _ Shipments _ Market share _ Change from Q2 2005
Nokia _ 14.5m _ 35% _ +1%
Motorola _ 7.1m _ 17% _ +2%
Samsung _ 6.1m _ 12% _ -4%
Sony Ericsson _ 4.5m _ 11% _ +1%
BenQ Siemens _ 2.9m _ 7% _ +1%
Others _ 7.5m _ 18% _ -1%
Total _ 41.4m _ 100%
Motorola _ 7.1m _ 17% _ +2%
Samsung _ 6.1m _ 12% _ -4%
Sony Ericsson _ 4.5m _ 11% _ +1%
BenQ Siemens _ 2.9m _ 7% _ +1%
Others _ 7.5m _ 18% _ -1%
Total _ 41.4m _ 100%
Source: IDC, 2006