Yesterday Nokia issued a prediction that in 2008 its mobile phone shipments will increase by 10% and that the company’s worldwide market share will increase beyond the 40% it claimed in 
the fourth quarter. But these numbers may be too optimistic.
Analysts at IDC predict annual growth in mobile phone sales will drop below 10% this year, making Nokia’s growth projection look unrealistic. IDC published a report today that says it is unrealistic to expect Nokia sales to grow in double digits.
“We expect growth to be in the single digits throughout 2008, and most likely for years to follow,” they wrote.
In 2007, Nokia sold around $1.11 billion worth of handsets. This is an increase of 12.4% over 2006 sales. Nokia shipped more units in the fourth quarter than the next three vendors combined: Samsung captured 13.9 percent of the market for the quarter (up from 11 percent a year earlier), Motorola 12.2 percent (down from 22 percent) and Sony Ericsson had 9.2 percent.