Growth in the mobile phone market is declining, according to Gartner, with worldwide sales to end-users rising only six per cent to 309 million units in the third quarter of 2008, compared to the third quarter of 2007. The growth rate in the same period  last year was 16 per cent.

"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," said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner.

Nokia sold 118 million phones in the third quarter of 2008. In the first quarter of the year Nokia felt the negative effects of the current economic climate, and lower replacement sales in mature and emerging markets impacted Nokia’s overall sales in the third quarter.

Samsung had a very strong third quarter, as sales increased 26.3 per cent over the same period in 2007. It continued to take advantage of the popularity of its touch-screen devices, the Tocco and Omnia, as well as an enriched mid-tier device portfolio. Sony Ericsson rose to the third position during the third quarter of 2008. Despite an aggressive price strategy in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Sony Ericsson built some inventory in Asia/Pacific during the quarter, which left a much smaller gap between it and Motorola on sell-in numbers. There have been reports of component shortages for the Xperia X1,  Windows-Mobile-based touch-screen device.

Motorola’s worldwide share dropped further in the third quarter of 2008 as sales fell to 24.6 million units. It has no inventory left to burn from previous quarters and a portfolio that remains very weak. LG’s portfolio remains well-positioned to take advantage of the seasonality in the fourth quarter of 2008 as its pricing is more suited to the current economic climate, says Gartner. It built up in the second quarter of 2008, and sales to end users reached 24.1 million units. However, sales were negatively impacted by the loss of a key contract in India, where LG valued profitability over market share and walked away from a deal that offered a very low average selling price.

Milanesi said, "Apple was able to return in the top ten vendors ranking at number seven, just under RIM. We expect that sell-in sales during the fourth quarter of 2008 will reflect this inventory level, especially given the current economic environment."

Sales of mobile handsets in Asia/Pacific increased despite economic pressure and weak consumer confidence, up 13.8 year-on-year. Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa reached 57.8 million units in the third quarter of 2008, representing an increase of 13.1 per cent year-on-year. In Japan, sales to end users reached 9.4 million units in the third quarter of 2008,  28 per cent down year-on-year, and global economic uncertainties also affected sales of mobile handsets in Latin America, with volumes growing 5.5 per cent year-on-year.
 
The North American mobile handset market continued to grow. Sales to end users were 47 million units in the third quarter of 2008, a 4.5 per cent increase over the previous year. The market in Western Europe reached 43.5 million units in the third quarter of 2008, but was below the 47.2 million units registered during the same quarter in 2007. X