According to ABI Research, mobile phone handset vendors are starting to get optimistic as results of the first half of 2009 come in. According to the research firm 269 million handsets were shipped in 2Q 2009 and handsets sales are expected to build on that number for Q3.

Samsung and LG were the big winners in the market during Q2 with 19.4% of the market for Samsung and 11.1% for LG. Nokia was able to grow its share of the market by 1.67% up to 38.3% of the total market. Sony Ericsson on the other hand slipped 0.56% and Motorola and RIM saw shares decrease.

“It is well documented that smartphones are proving to be one of the main engines of growth, but they are not just benefiting the Tier 1 players”, says practice director Kevin Burden. “A number of Tier 3 vendors are also making headway in a competitive market, including Apple and HTC but also vendors such as Huawei and ZTE. While a consolidation is widely expected in the industry, it will not be happening in 2009.”

Via ABI Research