According to new research from The NPD Group, mobile phone sales to consumers in the U.S. reached 67 million units in the first half of 2006. This number represents a slight decrease (less than 2 percent) compared to sales during the second half of 2005. NPD estimates total first half 2006 consumer sales of nearly $4.4 billion, after rebate and promotions. There was no word on what share of the market included 3G wireless broadband-capable phones.
“The U.S. handset market remained strong during the first half of this year,” said Neil Strother, research director for mobile devices at The NPD Group in a prepared statement. “There was a small, seasonal drop during the first half of this year, compared to the second half of last year. But this is to be expected, since holiday purchasing accounts for higher mobile phones sales during the latter part of every year.”
According to NPD’s Mobile Phone Track, Motorola continued its leadership in the U.S. market during the first quarter, boosting its share sequentially from 29 percent to 32 percent as it continued to ride the success of its popular RAZR models. Nokia and LG followed with 16 percent with Samsung at 15 percent.
Following is the breakdown of top 10 manufacturers’ first half of 2006 market shares:
Motorola 32%
Nokia 16%
LG 16%
Samsung 15%
Sony Ericsson 4%
Kyocera 4%
Sanyo 2%
UTStarcom 2%
RIM <1%
Palm <1%
During the first half, Motorola continued to dominate the GSM (global system for mobile communication) space with a 42 percent share of the market, followed by Nokia with 23 percent and Samsung with 13 percent. During the time period, LG was the leader in CDMA handsets with a 36 percent market share, Samsung reached 18 percent and Motorola at 14 percent.
Sales of music-enabled devices have doubled significantly since last year, from five percent during the second quarter of 2005 to more than 10 percent during the second quarter of 2006. The percentage of mobile phones sold with Bluetooth capability has also increased significantly in the last year, from nine percent during Q2 2005 to 22 percent this past quarter.