GartnerGroup's Dataquest Says Mobile Phone Sales Increased 65 Percent in 1999

United Kingdom, February 8, 2000 — Worldwide sales of mobile handsets reached 283 million units in 1999, a 65 percent increase over 1998 sales, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. (NYSE: IT). Dataquest analysts predict that the market is set to explode by the end of 2000, with sales estimated to surpass 410 million units.

Reaping the benefits of a focused branding campaign, strong product design and an unrivalled distribution channel, Nokia not only retained its position as the No. 1 manufacturer with its market share totaling 27 percent, but also beat its nearest rival by 10 percent. Motorola and Ericsson held on to their No.2 and No.3 positions, respectively, despite growing slower than the overall market growth. Korean manufacturer Samsung experienced the strongest growth among the top-tier vendors, as its 1999 sales grew 277 percent over 1998 results (See Table 1).

"There is no question that Nokia has performed outstandingly well with a growth rate of 98 percent, and Samsung has benefited from strong growth in CDMA markets, both at home and in the Americas," said Peter Richardson, principal analyst for Dataquest's Mobile Communications Worldwide program. "Samsung has also performed well in the GSM markets of Europe and Asia, underlining the strength of this organization and potential for continued market penetration in the future. It is this type of progress which makes market leaders like Nokia vulnerable to attack in the next three to four years."

At a regional level, Europe remained the No.1 region with the highest percentage of mobile phone sales, and Asia/Pacific jumped to second place in 1999, ahead of the United States. However, the region showing most the impressive progress last year was Latin America, which experienced over 103 percent growth.

Dataquest research shows that growth in the mobile terminal market was fuelled by product sales at the entry-level of the market, despite the high levels of excitement surrounding WAP and other enhanced data products. Nevertheless, analysts warned that this trend should not be dismissed as mere hype.

This information is provided as part of Dataquest's Mobile Communications program. Mobile communications is one of the fastest-moving drivers of the telecom industry. This service delivers reliable, detailed information to identify the opportunities and pitfalls for manufacturers and operators alike.

To subscribe to this program, please call 800-419-DATA, or 408-468-8009. More information about Dataquest's programs, descriptions of recent research reports and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://www.dataquest.com.

GartnerGroup's Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the high-technology and financial communities with market intelligence for the semiconductor, computer systems and peripherals, communications, document management, software, and services sectors of the global information technology industry.

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