Following a record quarter of worldwide shipments, the worldwide mobile phone market slowed slightly in the first quarter of 2005 due to expected seasonality. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, worldwide mobile phone shipments totaled 174.3 million units in 1Q05, decreasing 12.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2004 but increasing 9.2 percent year over year.

Among the leading vendors, Nokia maintained its No. 1 position within the industry, collecting 30.9 percent market share despite enduring the largest sequential decrease in shipments. Motorola once again captured second place with further penetration into Europe and leadership in the Americas. Samsung, the only company among the leading vendors to post a sequential gain, locked up third place and regained its momentum to catch up with Motorola after experiencing declining shipments in 2004. Holding steady in fourth place is LG Electronics, marking the company’s third consecutive quarter of shipments greater than 10 million. Returning to the Top 5 is Sony Ericsson, which beat out former No. 5 vendor Siemens by just one hundred thousand units.

“Consumer demand is still strong and vendors are prepared to meet that demand with a broad selection of phones,” said Ramon Llamas, research analyst for IDC’s Mobility Group. “Vendors have been stretching the limits on what phones can do and what they are supposed to look like. Telephony is still at the core of the mobile phone, but now it can be wrapped with features to satisfy different consumer tastes. What were once considered high-end features are now standard on many low-cost phones as vendors battle to gain market share and consumer attention.”