Global Mobile Phone Sales Hit 294.3 Million In Q1; Motorola And Western Europe See Weakness
Worldwide sales of mobile phones reached 294.3 million in the first quarter of 2008, a 13.6 percent increase over the first quarter of 2007, Gartner reported today, but the news wasn’t good across the board. Phone sales in Western Europe decreased 16.4 percent compared to a year ago, the first decrease since Gartner started tracking the market seven years ago; Motorola was the only handset maker to see sales decrease year over year; and Sony Ericsson lost its position as the fourth-largest handset maker to South Korean LG.
Here’s some key findings from the report:
In first place, Nokia sold 115.2 million mobile phones Q1, increasing its marketshare to 39.1 percent. Its sales were helped by a broad portfolio of phones that appeals to both emerging and mature markets. But competition is increasing, Gartner warned, and said Nokia must continue to innovate and improve usability and design.
In second place, Samsung sold 42.4 million units during the quarter, increasing its marketshare to 14.4 percent from 12.4 percent in the year-ago period. Gartner said Samsung is reacting quickly to the focus on touch-screen devices, but that it will need to diversify its designs and strengthen its lower-end portfolio to increase sales in emerging markets.
In third place, Motorola continued to show problems with sales falling to 29.8 million handsets in Q1, representing a 37 percent drop compared to the year-ago period. Although it introduced new models, Gartner said its portfolio is simply not competitive and has little chance of winning back its its No. 2 position, and should even watch out for LG and Sony Ericsson.
In Q1, LG sold 23.6 million phones, claiming a 8 percent marketshare to overtake Sony Ericsson’s fourth-place position. LG focused on touch-screen devices, but Gartner warns that the vendor needs a stronger smartphone portfolio, as consumers and operators have started to place more emphasis on this market segment.
In fifth place, Sony Ericsson had a rough first quarter, selling only 22.1 million units. The company said the weak results were due to the softness in the high-end segment in Western Europe. With new products coming later this year, Gartner said it is in a good position to win back the fourth-place ranking.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
3G for MTS
Speaking at the launch of 3G services in St Petersburg yesterday, Russia’s largest mobile operator, Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), announced plans to spend up to USD1.6 billion over the next five years on its W-CDMA network. It has invested 5% of that sum so far. MTS is also planning to launch commercial 3G services to Uzbekistan in the first quarter of 2009 and in Armenia before the end of next year. It also has plans to launch 3G in Belarus, but has not given a timetable for the rollout.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Algeria announces tender for 3G licences
Algeria’s Regulation Authority of Post and Telecommunications (ARPT) yesterday launched the process to issue 3G mobile licences in the country. Local and international parties wishing to participate must register their interest by 30 June. No details were released on the number or type of licences to be issued. The country currently has three mobile network operators; Egyptian Orascom Telecom’s Djezzy, Qatari-owned Wataniya Telecom’s Nedjma and Mobilis, part of state-owned operator Algerie Telecom.
Digicel and Claro sign on the dotted line
Digicel and Claro have officially signed for the mobile concessions they won earlier this month. As reported on 8 May, the companies paid USD86 million each for the 20-year licences of 30MHz each in the 1900MHz band. The operators now have four months to build out their networks and reach interconnection agreements.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Weather rains on Orascom’s buy-back plans
Italian holding company Weather Investments does not intend to sell any of its shares in Orascom Telecom.
The report said Orascom is seeking to buy back 12 million of its own shares for about €119 million (US$186 million).
Weather, which is owned by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris and has a controlling stake in Orascom Telecom, said in April it would sell some of its OT shares to OT under a previous buy-back offer which ended on May 14.
The earlier buyback offer, for 106 million shares, was more than three times subscribed, but neither company announced how many shares, if any, Weather had sold, the Reuters.
C&W signs €126m partnership with Tesco
Tesco has chosen struggling Cable&Wireless to be its first exclusive provider of telecoms, signing a deal worth £100 million (€126 million) over five years. The contract involves connecting 1,800 Tesco sites in more than 14 countries including China, India, Japan, the US, Ireland and Turkey.
Cable&Wireless will implement a VoIP platform on the network, which should reduce Tesco’s voice and data call costs, as well enabling the introduction of a Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) service for Tesco employees.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Romania churns out 1m Nokia phones
Nokia’s facility at Jucu, central-western Romania, has already produced 1 million mobile phones in three months since it went live, local media reported.
“This figure represents a great success for us and it should give reason to be proud to all those who supported us in launching our production here,” company manager John Guerry said.
The Nokia facility started production on 11 February. The factory has now around 700 employees. Nokia estimates the number of employees will reach 3,500 the moment the maximum production capacity is reached.
Currently, the factory makes mobile devices for the European markets.
The decision to build a factory in Romania was made public in March, 2007, and was mainly due to a significant increase in volume recorded by Nokia worldwide as well as to the increased demand in mobile devices on the European, Middle East and Asian markets.
The construction works at the factory started in July 2007, with the first stage completed in a record time of seven months. The second stages of the construction will be completed by the end of the summer.
Vodafone to pay Qatar €1.3bn for mobile licence
A unit of Vodafone Group will pay 7.72 billion riyals (€1.3 billion) for Qatar’s second mobile phone licence.
The report quoted the Gulf state’s telecom regulator saying that the deal, originally agreed in December, requires Vodafone to sell shares in incumbent Vodafone Qatar by the end of November: Vodafone owns 51% of Vodafone Qatar while the state-owned Qatar Foundation owns the remainder.
Qatar’s Supreme Council of Information & Technology also said operations are to begin in the first quarter of 2009 and will compete with state-controlled Qatar Telecommunications, which runs the country’s only mobile and fixed-line networks.
It beat rivals including AT&T to win the license that will end the last Arab mobile-phone monopoly, the report said.
The initial public offering will sell 40% of the company’s stock and 15% will be sold to state-owned affiliates, leaving Vodafone and Qatar Foundation with 45%.
The November deadline for the IPO is later than a June target originally outlined but the regulator did not explain the apparent delay.
