According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global mobile phone shipments grew 9 percent annually to reach 408 million units in the first quarter of 2014. Huawei was the star performer among the top five players, capturing 3 percent share and growing two times faster than the industry average.
Scott Bicheno, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, "Global mobile phone shipments grew 9 percent annually from 372.7 million units in Q1 2013 to 407.9 million in Q1 2014. Smartphones accounted for 7 in 10 of total mobile phone shipments during the quarter. The 9 percent growth rate of the overall mobile phone market is at its highest level since 2011, driven by healthier demand for 4G and 3G models across Asia, Africa and elsewhere."
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, "Samsung grew 6 percent annually and shipped 113.0 million mobile phones worldwide, capturing 28 percent marketshare in Q1 2014. Samsung's growth rate has slowed recently due to tougher competition from Chinese vendors, but Samsung maintains an impressive product portfolio and it is still shipping more mobile phones worldwide than Apple, LG and Nokia combined. Nokia shipped 47.0 million mobile phones worldwide for 12 percent share in Q1 2014. Nokia continues to face intense competition from Apple and dozens of Android vendors. New owner Microsoft will be looking to Nokia's upgraded X phone portfolio to stabilize the downturn in the coming months."
Ken Hyers, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, "Apple shipped 43.7 million iPhones worldwide in Q1 2014, up from 37.4 million a year earlier. Apple has closed the marketshare gap on Nokia to just one point, and Nokia will have to fight hard to stay ahead in the second half of this year. LG had a mixed quarter, capturing 4 percent share of the global mobile phone market. LG is performing well in Europe, but China and India remain major weak spots that the vendor still needs to address."
Other findings from the research include:
Huawei shipped 14.2 million mobile phones worldwide for 3 percent marketshare to remain the world's fifth largest vendor in Q1 2014. The company's annual growth rate is two times higher than the overall mobile phone industry average. Huawei's 3G and 4G Android devices are proving relatively popular in Asia and North America;
A long tail of second-tier brands continues to build momentum beyond the established top five mobile phone brands. Key emerging challengers in mobile phones worldwide at the moment include TCL-Alcatel, Coolpad, Lenovo, Xiaomi and others. These are important players to monitor.
