Handset-makers near the bottom

The bottom line for handset-makers in Q2 was that nimbler companies had greater shipment volumes while others continued to decline. Adjusting in Q2 meant focusing on smartphones that appealed to consumers and often lowering prices. Among the top five, Nokia continued its market leadership with 103.2 million devices shipped in Q2, capturing 38% of the industry total and showing a personal improvement of 10.7% sequentially. Korean vendors Samsung and LG, however, showed the most growth, shipping 52.3 million and 29.8 million devices, respectively. Both achieved record highs — Samsung at 19% market share and LG at 11%. Motorola and Sony Ericsson trailed with 5.4% and 5.1% market share, respectively.

According to iSuppli, the relative strength of the mobile phone market in Q2 is a signal that the worldwide handset market is bottoming out and will now begin a return to growth. Overall, there were approximately 265 million devices shipped in the quarter. It will take some time for recovery, however, especially considering Q3 is traditionally a slow quarter, as handset makers wait for the Q4 holiday season. Given the traditional Q3 lull, analysts and handset-makers agreed that shipments will be down 10% year-on-year overall, but even with this decline for the year, iSuppli expects mobile phone shipments to rise by 6% to 280.9 million in Q3 and by 8.3% to 304.2 million in Q4.