290.5 million phones sold in Q3 2009, Samsung and LG break new records

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The mobile phone market showed slight signs of recovery in Q3 2009, as 290.5 million cell phones were sold during the quarter – a 5.6% increase when compared to Q2 2009.

All five major handset vendors sold more phones in Q3 than in Q2, save for Motorola, which slipped to fifth place, previously occupied by Sony Ericsson.

Samsung and LG, the two South Korean giants, both broke new records. Samsung shipped more than 60 million phones in a quarter for the first time, so it now controls more than 20% of the market, as expected. LG shipped only 31.6 million units, but it is its highest number to date.

Here’s the top five handset vendors for Q3 2009:

* Nokia – 108.5 million units, 37.3% market share
* Samsung – 60.2 million units, 20.7%
* LG – 31.6 million units, 10.9%
* Sony Ericsson – 14.1 million units, 4.9%
* Motorola – 13.6 million units, 4.7%
* Others – 60.1 million units, 21.5%

Expectations for the fourth quarter of the year are high:

“We forecast 300 million handsets to be shipped worldwide in Q4 2009, growing 3% from 294 million units in Q4 2008. We believe this will be the first time the industry has returned to positive growth since Q3 2008, signaling an end to the handset recession after 4 quarters of decline. Consumers and handset vendors are gradually regaining a little confidence,” declared Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics.

Via Press release