Nokia still No.1 in market share

The world’s largest manufacturer of mobile handsets, Nokia, reportedly shipped more than 460 million mobile devices during the 2008 calendar year. The figures once again cement Nokia’s position as holder of the biggest share of the global mobile handset market, a position the company has held since 1998.

Nokia increased its total share of this lucrative global market to 39%, up 1% from the 2007 figure. It is estimated that more than 1.2 billion mobile devices were sold globally last year.

Many players who were not traditionally in the mobile device market, have launched competing products in recent years. Says Nokia in statement: “Our competitors today include, but are not limited to, Apple, Garmin, Google, Hewlett Packard, HTC, Huawei, Palm, Research in Motion, TomTom and ZTE. The mobile device industry may continue to attract new entrants. As a result of developments in our industry, including the convergence of mobile device technology with the Internet, we also face competition from companies historically focused on related industries, such as Internet based products and services, consumer electronics manufacturers, network operators and business device and solution providers, some of which have more scale and experience and a stronger market presence in certain market segments, such as Internet services.”

Africa is the fastest growing mobile market in the world, with relatively low mobile penetration in many regions on the continent. Company’s like Nokia anticipate sustained increases in the sale of handsets in African markets, even during the current negative economic climate.