Cellular Sales: Going Down

Three of the top 5 handset vendors grew at negative rates in the last quarter, the industry’s weakest growth rate since 2001, according to Strategy Analytics. Only 295 million cellphones were shipped worldwide during the holiday period, falling 10 percent from 329 million units in the year-ago period.

Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Motorola continued to loose market share. Full-year shipments for the industry grew just 5% in 2008, to 1.18 billion units. The research firm predicted 2009 sales will fall 9 percent to 1.08 billion mobile phones.

In the three months ended Dec. 31, LG Electronics overtook Sony Ericsson and Motorola to become the third-biggest cell phone vendor. Motorola slipped to fifth from third, Strategy Analytics said.

The worldwide economic meltdown has derailed Nokia, says Unstrung, sending the company’s fourth-quarter earnings down 69% and dropping its dominance of the global handset market to 37%. Still, Nokia’s handset market share is more than its next three competitors combined.

Samsung performed best, grabbing an 18% global share during the quarter. It sold 53 million handsets worldwide in Q4. Still, Samsung failed to meet its own target of selling 200 million units for the full-year

Apple sold 4.4 million phones in the 4th quarter, compared with 2.3 million a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Google’s Android Market launched just three months ago, reports more than 800 applications. But it’s dwarfed by Apple’s App Store which this week reported more than 15,000 apps available. Apple also offers paid apps, iTunes integration, and more models of the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Meanwhile the cost of cellular service is declining.

AT&T’s data plans are getting cheaper. Messaging & Data Unlimited will be just $30/month starting Jan. 25. Previously, AT&T’s unlimited messaging and data through MEdia Net cost $35/month.

Sprint’s new Boost Mobile plan on its iDEN network includes unlimited voice, texting, Web access and push-to-talk services for a flat pre-paid rate of $50 a month. Phones for the service, which are all from Motorola, will start at $20.