Samsung Overtakes Motorola in Phones Shipped

The global mobile phone market hit a new milestone in the fourth quarter of 2007, shipping more than 300 million units in a quarter for the first time, according to the latest IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

During the last three months of the year, some 334 million mobile devices shipped worldwide, up from 299.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Ever the market leader, Nokia increased its share yet again, claiming 40% of the market for the quarter and 38.2% for the full year, IDC found. Still, Samsung might be considered the big winner, having stolen second place from the ailing Motorola, whose share of the market fell from 22% to 12.2% year-over-year. IDC’s numbers put Samsung’s share for the quarter at 13.9%. up from 11% a year earlier.

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