Apple (AAPL) Joins Ranks Of Top 10 Handset Companies Worldwide

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has become one of the top 10 handset makers in the world. Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) also joined the list in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) remains the leader in the field, with 40.4% of the worldwide market in the fourth quarter up from 36.2% in the same period of 2006. Motorola (NYSE:MOT) was bloodied falling from a 21.5% share in the last quarter of ’06 to 11.9%.

Samsung’s share moved to 13.4%, putting it into the No.2 spot. Its piece of the market was up from 11.3% in Q4 ’06.

RIMM had a 1.2% share and the Apple iPhone a .6% share in the last quarter. Based on the popularity of the two products Wall St. can imagine that those numbers should move up well as 2008 goes along.

According to the FT "Global handset sales rose 16 per cent in 2007, to 1.2bn devices, but Gartner estimates the market will grow by 10 per cent in 2008."

Douglas A. McIntyre