Over a billion mobile phones were shipped in 2006. Total shipments grew 22.5 percent over the year before to reach 1.019 billion handsets. Driving this demand were emerging markets such as Asia and the Pacific region, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. In fact, demand in these markets was higher than in mature markets such as Japan, North America, and Western Europe.
The top five vendors were Nokia (347.5 million units), Motorola (217.4 million units), Samsung (118 million units), Sony Ericsson (74.8 million units), and LG Electronics (64.4 million units).
Where is the growth coming from? China now has 461.1 million mobile phone subscribers, having added almost 68 million in 2006. India added 74 million subscribers to end the year with 149.5 million subscribers.
Source: Mobility Site