The Mobile Phone market in Western Europe is growing steadily with smartphones taking most of the plaudits according to IDC. There is also concern that Samsung could overtake Nokia which is a real surprise.
“The Western European mobile phone market grew 8.1% year on year to 42.7 million units in 1Q10, according to IDC’s European Mobile Phone Tracker. Shipments of smartphones surged in the quarter to 12 million units, 57% higher than in last year’s first quarter, to represent 28% of total shipments. Traditional mobile phones (TMPs) declined 4% year on year to 30.7 million units, showing the continuous trend toward smartphones.
“The first quarter is traditionally tough for phone makers as operators clear out old stock from the previous holiday season,” said Francisco Jeronimo, European mobile devices research manager, IDC. “Still, operators are more cautious when launching new models and committing to high volumes, which drives more efficiency to their stock management policies and lower volumes to clear out after peak sales seasons. But last year’s first quarter was the worst quarter ever for the mobile phone industry in the region, which makes this year’s growth less expressive. On the other hand, the surge in smartphones also bolstered market growth at this time of the year.”
The TMP segment, which has been impacted by the increase in smartphone demand, declined 4% year on year and 30% sequentially to 30.7 million units. Sales of Samsung and LG feature phones have also impacted the TMP segment. Both Korean manufacturers, Samsung and LG, have successfully been launching and selling feature phones, as they understand most users are not yet ready for massive smartphone adoption as they still see these devices as complicated handsets.
Smartphone shipments rose to 12 million units, 56% higher than in last year’s first quarter, but 7% down from 4Q09. Apple, Research in Motion, and HTC were the main contributors to this quarter’s smartphone surge, growing over 100%. By operating system, Android shipped more units than Windows Mobile for the first time to take fourth position, while Symbian continues to lose market share to the iPhone OS and BlackBerry OS…”
