Nokia Picks Up Market Share

Handset sales in 4th quarter, 2005.

Nokia -- 35%
Motorola -- 17.8%
Samsung -- 12.1%
LG -- 7.2%
Sony Ericcson -- 6.9%

There were 816 million cell phone handsets sold in 2005. That's an increase of 21% over 2004. The bigger providers are getting bigger as evidenced by their increased sales in 2005 over the previous year. Only Samsung saw a decline in its market share. Motorola's RAZR phone was a big hit in its growth. LG phones now being marketed by Vodafone helped spur its increase, and Sony Ericcson was aided by its new walkman/camera phone.

Nokia's goal is to have 40% of the world market share by next year.

Ringtone providers report that when a new phone is purchased, its sales increase as users load up their new phones with new ringtones. That's why most ringtone providers report that its sales are greatest between Christmas and New Year's when so many new phones are activated.