APAC mobile market up despite slump: study

The Asia Pacific (APAC) market managed to buck the trend as the  sales of mobile handsets in in the region increased despite economic pressure and weak consumer confidence. According to the latest data released by research firm Gartner, APAC region witnessed  sales of 116.7 mn units in the third quarter of 2008, a 13.8% increase year-on-year.

The study however points out  that  replacement cycles increased from four to eight months, resulting in either a decline or almost flat sales in mature markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and Australia where operators are moving away from subsidies and pushing for longer contract periods in an attempt to generate revenue.

First time buyers in emergins markets like India and China pulled up the sales figures in these markets. “We expect the global economic decline and associated drop in disposable incomes to make sales in the region almost flat during the fourth quarter of 2008,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst for mobile terminals at Gartner, based in Mumbai, India.

Globally however, growth dipped back into single figures, representing less than half the 16% growth rate of the same period in 2007.  Gartener reveals that the worldwide sales of mobile phones to end-users reached more than 309 mn units in the third quarter of 2008. This resulted in a 6% increase compared to the third quarter of 2007.

Commenting on the global scenario, Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner,
said, “The global economic downturn has triggered a three-way battle between Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG for the third position in the worldwide mobile phone market, which has seen Sony Ericsson emerge as the winner in the third quarter of 2008.”

While Nokia continued to dominate the market with a  38.2% market share as compared to 37.8% in the corresponding period last year. South Korean electronics giant, Samsung also increased its market share from 14.4 per cent in the previous year to 17.1% reported in the quarter.

While Motorola saw drastic drop in its global market share as it managed to retain only 8 per cent of the total market share againt 13% held in the same quarter last year. Sony Ericcson also saw a slight decline in its market share according to the Gartner data, as it fell from 8.7% in the previous fiscal to 8.1% in the reporting quarter.