Market research firm says Nokia has become renewed threat


Samsung Electronics’ shipments of feature phones slipped in the second quarter, even as it secured the top position in smartphones during the same period.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics said on Monday that Samsung shipped 43 million feature phones running on second-generation communication networks, from April-June.

As a result, the global IT behemoth recorded a minus 21 percent growth in feature phones compared to the same period last year. With the firm coming in second, Finland-based Nokia took over the No. 1 spot, it said.

The announcement came after it was reported that Samsung beat Nokia to the top position in the worldwide handset market ― in both feature phones and smartphones ― in the first quarter of this year.

Stating that Nokia has become a renewed threat to Samsung’s feature phone shipments, SA advised that action be taken before it becomes an issue between the Suwon-based company and its parts suppliers.

In a previous report, the market research firm said that global mobile phone shipments in the second quarter grew 1 percent, reaching 362 million units.

Samsung took up a 26 percent share from April-June ― shipping 93 million handsets worldwide with 50.5 million being smartphones ― despite the ongoing macroeconomic challenges in mature markets like North America and Western Europe, according to SA.

It also said that a shift in consumers’ tastes contributed to the modest rise of handset shipments across the world.

Samsung’s rival Apple also shipped 26 million handsets worldwide during the quarter, delivering 28 percent annual growth, supported by demand in Asian nations.

LG Electronics’ shipment also halved year-over-year to 13.1 million units as it cut down on its feature phone shipments and concentrated on its smartphone lineup.

The market research firm, however, noted that LG’s global smartphone shipments had “encouragingly improved on a sequential basis.”

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)