170 mln mobile phones sold in Q3 2004

Mobile phone shipments rose to 170 mln units in Q3 2004 over Q2 2004 168.5 mln, according to iSuppli. Shipments totaled 508 mln units for the first three quarters of 2004. iSuppli predicts that in Q4 shipments will drop 1.8% compared to Q3 (167 mln units). iSuppli upped the forecast for 2004 to 675 mln units from a previous forecast of 670 mln, equaling 18% growth over 2003. Top mobile phone supplier Nokia saw shipments rise 13.2% in Q3 to 51.4 mln units, up 45.4 mln in Q2. Company's market share rose to 30.2% in Q3, compared to 26.9% in Q2, increasing its lead over Motorola by 16.5% points, which holds 13.7% of the market share.