Wireless manufacturers sold nearly 289 million handsets during the third quarter of 2007, up 16 per cent from last year. Samsung replaced Motorola Inc.,, whose sales plummeted 27 per cent, as the second-place vendor.
In a report released this week, the Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Group, tallied the total number of mobile phones shipped by the top five manufacturers worldwide between the third quarter of 2007 and the same period in 2006, when total shipments were about 250 million units.
Nokia led the pack with 38 per cent of the market, selling more than 110 million units, up from 88 million during the same period in 2006. Samsung had 14.5 per cent market share, selling 41.8 million phones, up from 30.6 million during the third quarter of 2006. Despite the release of its Razr2 handset, the third place vendor, Motorola, sold 37.8 million phones, down from 52 million during the same period in 2006, when it was in second place, ahead of Samsung.