735 mln mobile phones to sell in 2005

A record 200 mln handsets were shipped worldwide in Q4 2004, with strong sales in all regions boosting total annual sales to a record 684 mln, according to Strategy Analytics. Two of the top six vendors grew in excess of 50% over Q4 2003. Nokia maintained its lead in 2004 with 207.6 mln handsets sold, representing 30.4% of the global market, followed by Motorola (15.3%, 104.5 mln units), Samsung (12.7%, 86.6 mln units), Siemens (7.2%, 49 mln units), LG (6.5%, 44 mln units) and Sony Ericsson (6.2%, 42.5 milion units). Strategy Analytics forecasts 735 mln units will be shipped in 2005. They expect global growth to slow from 32% in 2004 to 8% in 2005, as the upgrade cycle begins to peak in mature markets, and net subscriber additions start to slow in developing markets.