ABI Research: Handset makers shipped 258 million phones in Q1 2009

Despite tough economic conditions, the mobile phone buyers did not head to the hills during Q1 2009. As a matter of fact, handset vendors had shipped 258 million phone by the end of the quarter. And while the number represents an 11% year-over-year decline, the result exceeded the previous forecast of 253.5 million.

From ABI’s press release:

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was beaten out by SonyEricsson for the dubious distinction of showing the largest contractions (their shares now stand at 36.2% and 5.6%). Nokia will breathe a sigh of relief once its latest smartphone, the N97, enters the market. Nokia has had a fair amount of success with the E71 but needs to beef up its touchscreen product lines. While Sony-Ericsson has the Experia smartphone line-up, the firm’s exposure to the feature phone segment was squeezed more than other handset sectors. While feature phones serve many needs in the market, operators have been especially keen to snap up smartphone stock and were cooler on the Ultra-Low Cost and feature phone orders.

On the other hand, two Korean companies — Samsung and LG — demonstrated healthy gains to take their market shares to 17.8% and 8.8%, respectively. Also among the stars was RIM, which raised its share to 3.0% due largely to the success of its Blackberry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), on its end, reached 1.5% of the market.

However, ABI noted that the industry should be cautious, as buyers in the developed world are being concerned about debt and job security. Developing economies are expected to take a hit on the credit side which could have knock-on consequences on credit lines for purchases and stock levels… As always, more information is available from ABI Research’s website.