Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Grew 35 Percent

Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled 417 million units in the third quarter of 2010, a 35 percent increase from the third quarter of 2009, according to Gartner, Inc.

Smartphone sales grew 96 percent from the third quarter last year, and smartphones accounted for 19.3 percent of overall mobile phone sales in the third quarter of 2010. Although the top three worldwide mobile device manufacturers Nokia, Samsung and LG remained the same -- albeit with reduced market share -- the third quarter saw Apple rise into the top five manufacturers, surpassing RIM for fourth place. In addition to strong growth of smartphone sales in mature markets, increasing sales of white-box products in some emerging regions drove sales of mobile phones upward once again.