"The mobile handset industry rode the crest of a wave of robust replacement demand to realise record levels of sales to end-users for the first quarter," said Bryan Prohm, senior analyst with the mobile communications worldwide research group for Gartner.
"Significant demand was recorded across all geographical regions during the quarter, and annualised sales trends based on these results suggests the market could be on pace for a double-digit rate increase for the full calendar year."
Nokia, with a 35% market share in the first quarter of 2003, continued to have more than double the market share of its nearest competitor, Motorola.
Despite market share of more than 50% in almost all GSM markets in Europe and Asia/Pacific, Gartner analysts said Nokia is still positioned to grow market share in these core markets through the remainder of the year.
Samsung had seen the largest percentage growth, amounting to 33.6% for the quarter, and the remainder of 2003 will see Motorola and Samsung battle for the No. 2 position, while Sony Ericsson and LG will try to hold the No. 5 position.
"In 2003, an explosion in the availability of colour screen and camera phones is expected in mature markets, such as Western Europe, and we predict that many customers will be tempted to replace their existing mobile terminals," said Gartner's Ben Wood. Photo messaging, which Gartner terms "disposable photography," is expected to be the cornerstone service in mobile network operators' marketing campaigns throughout the year.