Mobile phone market grows 17.9% in Q4 - IDC

"Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market and who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010, are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list."

1. Nokia overall unit volume slipped 2.4% in the fourth quarter, which the vendor attributed to the "intense competitive" environment and component shortages, resulting in lower feature phone shipments. Nokia's smartphone volume grew by 38% compared to the same prior-year quarter, with the company launching the C7 and the C6-01 touchscreen smartphones and the C3 combination touchscreen and QWERTY device in the quarter. Still, smartphone ASPs dropped 16% on a year-over-year basis.
2. Samsung attained a new milestone during the quarter, pushing through the 80 million unit threshold for the first time in the company's history while  improving profit margins for the second straight quarter. IDC said the continued success of its Galaxy S smartphones, which saw sales of nearly ten million units worldwide for the year, drove shipment volumes. The company's  mass-market and touch-screen phones earned a strong following in emerging markets.
3. LG Electronics crossed the 30 million unit mark for the quarter, in part due to the success of Optimus One smartphone sales across multiple regions. IDC said LG's smartphone strategy is paying off, with the selling over a million units in the first month of availability, and newer versions (Optimus 2X, Optimus Black) anticipated later this year.
4. ZTE finished the quarter by attaining the 4 position, with shipments progressing from its home country China to developing regions such as Africa and Latin America while making inroads into developed markets such as Western Europe, the US and Japan. IDC attributed the some of the company's recent success to its rapidly expanding smartphone line such as the Android-based Blade and Racer devices.
5. Apple slipped to the fifth position despite a record quarter for unit shipments and the departure soon thereafter of CEO Steve Jobs on medical leave. It was the company's second straight quarter on IDC's Top 5 list, with the iPhone selling particularly well in developed regions of the world such as North America and Western Europe.