The end of 2009 witnessed 336.5 million shipments of mobile handsets, according to ABI Research’s “Mobile Devices Market Sizing and Share” and “Mobile Devices Market Forecast Analysis.” In the fourth quarter of 2009, shipment-based ASPs were down 2 percent to $117.55.
“Obama’s stimulus package certainly helped save the mobile handset industry. Renewed consumer confidence in the second half of 2009 meant that shipments for the whole year only shrank 4.5 percent to 1.153 billion,” said Jake Saunders, VP for forecasting at ABI. The research firm forecasts shipments to expand to 1.2 billion handsets in 2010.
Between June 2008 and December 2009, Samsung increased its market share from 15.2 percent to 20.5 percent. Samsung has benefited from a strong lineup of feature phones as well as a strong reputation for innovative smartphones. Korea’s level of influence over the handset market is further underscored by LG, the third-largest handset vendor (10.1 percent). LG has been counting on its S-Class smartphone series to help it secure a bridgehead in the market.
