Mobile handset sales to hit 1.3bn in 2010

It’s very easy to forget just how small Apple’s mobile market share actually is. The hype is so big for Apple that everything just seems to get lost in a snowstorm of words and we’re just as guilty as the next party. However when you look at charts like the one below you realise just how small it is 2.9% compared to industry giant Nokia’s 34% – to put that in raw terms In Q1 2010 Nokia shipped a colossal 103 million handsets to Apple’s 8.75 million. Nokia almost ship more phones in a week than Apple ship in a whole quarter. Or to be really humiliating they shift more phones in 6 hours than Google is reputed to have sold so far this quarter.

Handset vendor market share Q1-2010

ABI Research’s Q1 2010 handset figures show mobile shipments globally powered ahead to 303 million, up 19% Year-on-Year. This bodes well for 2010 as a whole: shipments could well reach 1.3 billion. It is also notable that 3G handset shipments eclipsed 2G handset shipments. Strongest handset shipment growth was seen in the Middle East and Africa (20% YoY) followed by the Americas, particularly the US (11%). Europe, on the other hand, is languishing with single-digit growth.

Nokia’s market-share stood at 34%. New smartphones such as the N8 are helping the manufacturer to shore up its handset portfolio, as its loss of traction in the smartphone sector hit sales hard. In response, revamped efforts with Symbian, are intended to help Nokia regain momentum. Samsung had a strong quarter, securing 21%, and has been cultivating deeper relationships with US and European carriers which helped the firm grow its shipments 40.2% YoY.

LG’s market-share, 8.9%, has suffered from a weak smartphone portfolio in the North American market. Shipments grew 20% YoY.

Down at the bottom of the table; Apple have upped YoY sales by 130% and hit 8.75m, (2.9%) devices shipped. While the once great Motorola is benefiting from its initial success with the Droid (2.8%).

For more about worldwide mobile device markets, see ABI Research’s “Mobile Devices Market Sizing and Share” and “Mobile Devices Market Forecast Analysis.”