Boston, MA - April 25, 2013 – According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global mobile phone shipments dipped minus 1 percent annually to reach 373 million units in Q1 2013. Samsung was the star performer, capturing a record 29 percent share of all mobile phones shipped worldwide.

Neil Shah, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “Ongoing macroeconomic challenges in Asia, Europe and North America, relatively tighter operator upgrade policies for 3G phones, and slowing volumes of 2G feature phones were among the key reasons why global mobile phone shipments dipped minus 1 percent annually to reach 372.7 million units in Q1 2013. Fuelled by robust demand for its popular Galaxy portfolio, Samsung was the star performer, shipping 106.6 million mobile phones worldwide and capturing a record 29 percent marketshare to solidify its first-place lead.”

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Nokia’s global mobile phone shipments fell 25 percent from 82.7 million units in Q1 2012 to 61.9 million in Q1 2013. Weak Symbian smartphone volumes and lackluster feature phone demand caused Nokia’s shrinkage. Nonetheless, Nokia remains the world’s second largest mobile phone vendor by volume, and if it can expand aggressively its fast-growing Lumia and Asha ranges this year, then there is still potential for Nokia’s position to stabilize or recover.”

Woody Oh, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, added, “Apple grew just 7 percent annually and shipped 37.4 million iPhones worldwide in Q1 2013. Apple’s global mobile phone marketshare is approaching a peak. Apple will need to launch new models, or partner with additional major carriers like China Mobile, if it wants to expand significantly beyond its current ceiling of 10 percent global volume share.”

Other findings from the research include:

• LG held fourth position with 4 percent share of the global mobile phone market. LG has been ramping up its LTE 4G shipments, with popular models from the Optimus range, and this helped LG to grow at an above-average rate of 18 percent annually in the quarter;
• ZTE delivered 4 percent share of the global mobile phone market in Q1 2013, its lowest level for almost three years. ZTE is experiencing heightened competition in core markets like China and Western Europe from rivals such as Coolpad and Samsung.  

Exhibit 1: Global Mobile Phone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q1 2013  [1]

The full report, Global Handset Shipments Reach 373 Million Units in Q1 2013, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, details of which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/cr7fhmb.  

About Strategy Analytics:

Strategy Analytics is a global, independent research and consulting firm. The company is headquartered in Boston, USA, with offices in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, India and China. Visit www.strategyanalytics.com for more information. 

Americas Contact:

Neil Shah / +1 617 614 0727 / NShah@strategyanalytics.com             

Europe Contact

Neil Mawston / +44 1908 423 628 / NMawston@strategyanalytics.com  

Asia Contact:

Woody Oh / +44 1908 423 665 / WOh@strategyanalytics.com

Strategy Analytics' global devices team was on the show floor at MWC 2013, the arguably most influential trade show in the mobile industry, for five days, meeting dozens of firms and executives. What new analysis did we make as a result of our meetings? What are the hot topics and disruptive products that MWC visitors were asking about? What will be major trends for smartphones and operating systems in the second half of 2013? We conducted a webinar on Mar 6 to present a lot of interesting and noticeable topics that we gathered during MWC 2013. All Strategy Analytics' clients are invited to see the replay here.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, despite relentless competition from dozens of Asian rivals, Nokia was easily the worlds number one feature phone vendor during 2012. A price-competitive portfolio of 2G keypad models, multi-SIM designs and 3G touchphones enabled Nokia to retain its leadership. Looking forward to 2013, the smart feature phone wars will soon take off, as Nokia Asha goes head-to-head with Samsung Rex. More analysis can be viewed by clients here.

Strategy Analytics is proud to be an official research partner of the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade show.

The huge and influential MWC show takes place in Barcelona, Spain, between Monday 25th to Thursday 28th February, 2013.

Strategy Analytics will be sending multiple analysts and consultants to this year's MWC show in Barcelona. If you would like to brief our analysts in our mobile phone, smartphone and tablet services, or to arrange formal / informal meetings with us, please contact us through this dedicated link on our website. We look forward to the possibility of meeting you in sunny Barcelona.

Our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) team recently blogged about Three Things You Must See at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) trade show in Barcelona, Spain, between Sunday 24th and Thursday 28th February, 2013.

Here are three more major trends you must see at this year's MWC:

1. LTE-Advanced. Standard LTE (4G) is fast becoming "old hat". LTE-Advanced (4.5G) is where the next boom lies. And it will be here sooner than you think. We recommend visiting the Ericsson or Qualcomm stands, where I believe they will have LTE-Advanced demos for phones, chipsets or networks.

2. Microsoft tablets. It is no secret that Microsoft W8 tablets have struggled to take off so far. Pricing, distribution and design issues are inhibiting their growth. But Microsoft is in it for the long game. The US giant has deep pockets and it will not give up. Are we going to see a new Microsoft tablet from a certain Scandinavian hardware vendor?

3. Mobile Accessories. Smart phones and smart tablets will increasingly be sold with smart accessories. Operators and device makers want to create fresh revenue streams with Bluetooth headphones, Bluetooth watches, protector-cases, and many other types of add-on products. We recommend visiting stands from Plantronics or Samsung.

If you would like to meet with our mobile devices analysts at MWC, for briefings or analysis or media interviews, please send us a message via this link at our website. We look forward to seeing you in sunny Barcelona.

Mobile World Congress (MWC), in Barcelona, Spain, is arguably the mobile industry's most important trade show of the year. The event takes place between Sunday 24th and Thursday 28th February, 2013. Strategy Analytics is an official research partner for MWC 2013.

Our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) team, which tracks all mobile devices, will be at MWC. There will, of course, be thousands of companies and products vying for your attention at the show. Here are three major trends we recommend looking out for:

1. The rise of the 4G phablet. Every year the largest practical size of screen for a mobile phone goes up. This year will be no exception. We expect a large chunk of flagship LTE smartphones announced at MWC 2013 to have screens of at least 5 inches in size. LG Electronics should be one stand worth a visit.

2. The rise of Chinese brands. Huawei and ZTE will have a major presence at the show. They will be keen to talk up their 3G and 4G offerings for hardware, software and services. Lenovo, TCL-Alcatel and Coolpad -- who have a smaller international presence than Huawei and ZTE -- will also be worth a look for their mass-market smartphone portfolios.

3. Beyond Android. As Android approaches a peak in the influential US and China markets, we expect more rival smartphone (and tablet) platforms to be prodding us for their attention at MWC this year. Microsoft WP8, BB10, Firefox, Tizen, Ubuntu and Sailfish should all have some interesting stories to tell.

If you would like to meet with our mobile devices analysts at MWC, for briefings or analysis or media interviews, please send us a message via this link at our website. We look forward to seeing you in sunny Barcelona.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, Nokia shipped 86.3 million mobile phones worldwide in Q4 2012. Increasing Microsoft Lumia volumes and tighter cost-controls helped Nokia return to profitability after three straight quarters of financial losses. However, Nokia’s handset shipments fell sharply in China. China now joins the United States on the company’s “must recover” list of countries for 2013. More analysis can be downloaded by clients here.

According to our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, Motorola’s global handset shipments tumbled -43% annually in Q4 2012. Growth in mobile phone sales was lackluster across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Can the rumored upcoming “X Phone” give Motorola’s fortunes a positive boost in the second half of 2013?

More analysis can be downloaded by clients here.

The impending avalanche of NFC phones, which our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service projects to grow at an average of 67% per year over the next five years, has everybody thinking about contactless payments. With all the buzz around Google's soft-launched Wallet service and the US carrier joint venture ISIS, which should roll out in 2012, it makes sense. Indeed, the simple fact that money is directly involved in this particular application of NFC rightfully encourages the whole wireless value chain to think about potential revenue opportunities.

However, there is one often overlooked application for NFC -- intelligent device pairing. The idea is simple: instead of inputting PINs, passkeys, or even 26 hexadecimal digits to pair two wireless devices, the user simply "taps" two NFC devices together. The concept can be applied for any pairing event, regardless of which enabling technology, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, is used to make the actual connection.

So far, only one handset vendor has actively promoted NFC for this application. Nokia's latest NFC-enabled handsets and Bluetooth headsets can be paired together using this very concept. Unfortunately, the latest Windows Lumia devices are not yet in this category, as Microsoft has not yet added NFC support to its platform. Nevertheless, Nokia's attention to NFC tech is a positive sign for the vendor's future portfolio. Nokia's strategy holds two key benefits: it future-proofs handsets, getting them ready for mobile contactless payment services once they eventually roll out, and it improves the usability of a typically cumbersome process.

Chip supplier Broadcom, whose interests span Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and NFC has also recognized this useful application of the emerging tech, and we expect its chipsets and middleware to help device vendors think beyond mobile payments as they develop their NFC smartphones and tablets.

Alex Spektor
Wireless Device Strategies

Strategy Analytics forecasts worldwide HTML5 phone sales will surge from 336 million units in 2011 to 1 billion units in 2013. HTML5 has quickly become a hyper-growth technology that will help smartphones, feature phones, tablets, notebooks, desktop PCs, televisions and vehicles to converge through cloud services.

We forecast worldwide HTML5 phone sales to hit 1 billion units per year in 2013. Growth for HTML5 phones is being driven by robust demand from multiple hardware vendors and software developers in North America, Europe and Asia who want to develop rich media services across multiple platforms, including companies like Adobe, Apple, Google and Microsoft. We define an HTML5 phone as a mobile handset with partial or full support for HTML5 technology in the browser, such as the Apple iPhone 4S.

We believe HTML5 will help smartphones, feature phones, tablets, notebooks, desktop PCs, televisions and vehicles to converge in the future. HTML5 will be a pivotal technology in the growth of a multi-screen, 4G LTE cloud that is emerging for mobile operators, device makers, car manufacturers, component vendors and Web app developers. With its potential to transcend some of the barriers faced by native apps, such as cross-platform usability, HTML5 is a market that no mobile stakeholder can afford to ignore.

However, despite surging growth of HTML5 phone sales, we caution that HTML5 is still a relatively immature technology. HTML5 currently has limited APIs and feature-sets to include compared with native apps on platforms such as Android or Apple iOS. It will require several years of further development and standards-setting before HTML5 can fully mature to reach its potential as a unified, multi-platform content-enabler.

The full report, Global HTML5 Handset Sales Forecast, is published by our Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service, details of which can be found at this link: http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=reportabstractviewer&a0=6901.