Global mobile device shipments hit new peak in Q4 2004

Research firm Canalys estimates indicate that Nokia shipped a new record 4.9 million smart phones in the quarter, increasing its market share substantially, both year on year and sequentially. The long-awaited refresh of its enterprise-focused Communicator range arrived in the form of the Series 80 based Nokia 9500 - the first smart phone to ship with
integrated WiFi.

PalmOne's combined 1.5 million handheld and smart phone shipments meant 8% growth overall, but this was constrained somewhat by the new Treo 650 initially only being available on the Sprint network in the US. PalmOne remains the leading smart phone vendor in North America.

HP's shipments increased by only 1% worldwide in Q4, having successfully sold significant numbers of new models into the channel in the previous quarter. It focused on higher end models in Q4 and enjoyed strong shipments in EMEA of the new h6340 wireless handheld, benefiting from a strategy that included targeting its corporate customer base using direct sales and integrators.

RIM was narrowly behind HP, repeating its superb growth of recent quarters, with total shipments up 249% year on year. Shipments of the 7100 series grew, but its established form-factor devices still account for the majority of sales.

Symbian's overall mobile device market share rose to 53% from 38% one year ago and was also up on last quarter's 50%. As well as Nokia, Motorola and Fujitsu, its overall position was helped by steady shipments from Sony Ericsson and Sendo, a rise in volume for the Siemens SX1 and the first shipments from licensees Panasonic and BenQ.

Overal, data-centric devices (handhelds/wireless handhelds) were up 5%, with voice-centric devices (smart phones/feature phones) up 101%.

Worldwide total mobile device market
Market shares Q4 2004, Q4 2003


Vendor (top 5)   Q4 2004            Q4 2003           Growth
                Shipments   Share  Shipments   Share   Q4'04/
                                                       Q4'03


Total          10,902,320  100.0%  7,234,790  100.0%     51%


Nokia           4,949,550   45.4%  2,226,660   30.8%    122%
palmOne         1,503,590   13.8%  1,389,210   19.2%      8%
HP                869,970    8.0%    859,360   11.9%      1%
RIM               826,940    7.6%    237,000    3.3%    249%
Motorola          451,840    4.1%    335,610    4.6%     35%
Others          2,300,430   21.1%  2,186,950   30.2%      5%

The Canalys tracking and analysis of the markets includes all types of "smart" pocket-sized mobile device in an integrated worldwide research programme. Its market share estimates include smartphones like the Sony Ericsson P910, palmOne Treo 650, Orange SPV c500 and Nokia 7610, wireless handhelds such as the RIM BlackBerry 72xx and 77xx ranges, T-Mobile MDA II and HP iPAQ h6315, and standalone handhelds (without integral wide-area wireless capabilities), for example the palmOne Tungsten T5 and HP iPAQ h4150.

For the research company, a feature phone is a pocket-sized device positioned primarily for voice, offering full, configurable two-way data synchronisation with PC, but OS-based applications cannot be added without restriction.

A smartphone is a pocket-sized device positioned primarily for voice, offers full, configurable two-way data synchronisation with PC, and OS-based applications can be added without restriction. Example: Sony Ericsson P910 and Orange SPV c500.

A handheld is a pocket-sized device positioned primarily for data, offers full, configurable two-way data synchronisation with PC, and has no integrated wireless WAN (eg, GSM, GPRS or 3G) capability. Example: palmOne Tungsten T5.

Wireless handheld is a pocket-sized device positioned primarily for data, offers full, configurable two-way data synchronisation with PC, and has integrated wireless WAN (eg, GSM, GPRS or 3G) capability. Example: O2
xda II, RIM BlackBerry 7780.