Mobile phone sales totalled 816.6m units in 2005, a 21 per cent increase from 2004. The big six mobile vendors – Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Siemens – increased their share as a group during the year to control 79.4 per cent of the market at the expense of smaller suppliers, according to market analyst firm Gartner Dataquest.

The big six experienced a steady increase in market share during 2005, with their dominance increasing from 78 per cent in Q1 2005 to 84 per cent in Q4 2005. "As competition continues to drive price pressure in the low-end, and a design and technology 'arms race' in the high-end, the survival of the fittest depends more and more on economies of scales, or very carefully cut-out niche markets," Carolina Milanesi, principal analyst for mobile terminals research at Gartner said.