The quarterly mobile phone market research report from Gartner also goes into the progress of the smartphone operating system market and it reveals which one continues to be top dog.

And it remains the Symbian operating system, although its share of the market dropped just over 5% to nearly 47% in 2009.

A Gartner spokesperson said:
“Symbian had become uncompetitive in recent years, but its market share, particularly on Nokia devices, is still strong. If Symbian can use this momentum, it could return to positive growth.”

Breathing down the neck of the Symbian operating system is of course the real powerhouses behind smartphones: Research in Motion’s operating system (which drives the BlackBerrys) and the iPhone operating system. These two gained ground in 2009, with an increase to 20% from 16% for Research In Motion and 8% to 14% for iPhone.

The other slight concern for the Symbian operating system – which is now fully open source - is that it is affected by the weakness of Nokia in the high-end smartphone market.

But things could improve with the impending release of Symbian3, announced at the recent Mobile World Congress 2010, and Symbian4 which will follow shortly afterwards.

The unloved Microsoft Windows Mobile lost market share, falling from nearly 12% to just below 9%. It remains to be seen how the latest reincarnation of the generally unpopular operating system will fair in 2010.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the new kid on the block, the Android operating system, rose nicely from 0.5% to nearly 4%. With it gaining popularity, it will be bound to stay on that sort of course throughout 2010.

The Gartner spokesperson added:
“Looking back at the announcements during Mobile World Congress 2010, we can expect 2010 to retain a strong focus around operating systems, services and applications while hardware takes a back seat. Sales will return to low-double-digit growth, but competition will continue to put a strain on vendors’ margins.”

So did worldwide mobile phone sales increase in 2009, or was the year a bit flat?

Latest figures from US research house Gartner show that the total number of phones sold worldwide in 2009 was 1.211 billion units, a 0.9% drop from 2008. Most of which one day will end up with the mobile phone recyclers.

On a slightly better note, sales in the fourth quarter of 2009 were actually up 8.3% (340 million units) over the fourth quarter of 2008, so the trend is getting better.

Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner, said:
“The mobile devices market finished on a very positive note, driven by growth in smartphones and low-end devices. Smartphone sales to end users continued their strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2009, totalling 53.8 million units, up 41.1% from the same period in 2008. In 2009, smartphone sales reached 172.4 million units, a 23.8 per cent increase from 2008. In 2009, smartphone-focused vendors like Apple and Research In Motion (RIM) successfully captured market share from other larger device producers, controlling 14.4% and 19.9% of the worldwide smartphone market, respectively.”

Gartner also highlighted the intense competition felt by manufacturers in 2009, not only in growing markets such as China and India, but also in the mature markets. But, Gartner reckons that the stronger economic climate will mean better times throughout 2010.

As to the manufacturers themselves, the big five of Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson had mixed fortunes. As a group, they lost market share to the likes of Apple and other manufacturers, with their combined share dropping from 79.7% in 2008 to 75.3% in 2009.

Nokia’s share of the market dropped from 38.6% to 36.4% as pressure on smartphone price points took their toll. Samsung did actually better in 2009, going from 16.3% to 19.5%. LG also showed a market share improvement, up from 8.4% to 10.1%. But Motorola took a hit, falling from 8.7% to 4.8% and Sony Ericsson also showed a decline from 7.6% to 4.5%.

It is fair to say that Microsoft have struggled to make people love their mobile phone operating systems, but with the introduction of Windows Phone 7, unveiled at the annual mobile phone bash held in Barcelona, things might be looking up for the guys from Seattle.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was on hand to launch Windows Phone 7 at the Mobile World Congress 2010.

In a typical upbeat presentation, Mr Ballmer laid out his store:
“Today, I’m proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones. In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people’s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.”

And that’s the gist of the Microsoft approach. Their challenge has to be to launch an operating system that will threaten the dominance of the big boys in the smartphone market. And Microsoft cannot regain lost ground by emulating the others; it has to produce something original and exciting.

It is with this new platform that the Seattle software kings can hold up their heads with pride; they hope. And they claim it offers a fresh approach, characterised by smart design and, in their words, “…truly integrated services.” In other words, letting people access quickly the content they want from the web and on=board applications.

Smart design will not be the key (considering the competition), but functionality, combined with smart design, could be.

To be fair, by design, Microsoft are talking about a holistic system that is behind every part of the phone, from the layout, motion, function and hardware integration. For example, the Start Screen will consist of dynamically updated ‘live tiles’ which will quickly open chosen applications.

So will Windows Phone 7 will be the answer that Microsoft needs? Much of course depends on the consumers liking the system, but also much lies with the operators wanting it and the manufacturers falling in line. Microsoft say that’s all in hand, with the major operators and manufacturers on board, and the first phones being available in mid 2010.

As to whether the consumers are infatuated, will only be clear by the end of the year. If they aren’t, then Microsoft will look like they’ve played their last hand in the mobile phone operating system market.

So how many devices did mobile phone giants Nokia sell in the last quarter of 2009 and do they still continue to dominate the market?

In their recent financial results announcement Nokia confirmed that they had sold some 126.9 devices, up 12% on the quarter, but perhaps more significantly, up 17% on the third quarter.

This is especially good when considering that Nokia estimates that overall industry mobile device volumes were only up 8% on the year and 14% from the preceding quarter.

Nokia reckons that they enjoyed a whopping mobile device market share of 39% in the fourth quarter, a 2% increase on the same period last year and 1% more than the previous quarter (Q3 2009).

Although, despite good sales figures and market shares, sales at 12 billion euros were down 5% compared to the fourth quarter 2008 and down a far larger 22% from the preceding quarter.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the CEO of Nokia, said:
“We grew our market share in smartphones in the fourth quarter, driven by the successful launch of new touch and QWERTY models. Our performance in smartphones, combined with continuing success in the emerging markets…Our solid results also owe a good deal to world class supply chain management and impressive sales execution.

“Our focus remains firmly on execution, especially around user experience. Here I want to highlight our move to shake up the navigation market with free walk and drive navigation on our smartphones, a good example of how we are leveraging our assets to bring real benefits to consumers.”

The reference to the smartphones market in the above quote might be seen by some observers as a nod to Nokia struggling in the past to make its prescence felt in the top end of this particularly demanding sector. In other words, it does not have the ‘killer’ device. Many feel that although Nokia does dominate in market share terms, it has not traditionally had a device which can take on the iconic iPhones and BlackBerrys.

Brands are of course fickle things and only time will tell as to whether a Nokia smartphone will genuinely begin to challenge the two brands that are considered the trend setters.

The first pan-European helpline phone numbers have been allocated by Ofcom and three big UK charities get the first batch.

The charity Missing People get to use 161 100 for a missing children helpline. NSPCC get 161 111 for its ChildLine service and 161 123 goes to the Samaritans who will use it as an emotional support line.

The new 116 numbers will work alongside the charities’ existing numbers. The idea is that they will allow anyone visiting Europe to be able to access a service via a memorable number.

The 116 numbers have been made available by the European Commission. One of their key aims is for certain social value services to be contactable by the same memorable number in all Member States. More 116 numbers will be issued and allocated in the future.

In the UK the 116 numbers will be free of charge, whether they are called from a landline, or mobile phone. Their introduction is expected later next year.

Martin Houghton-Brown, Chief Executive of Missing People, said:
“This is an exciting opportunity for the charity Missing People to share the Europe-wide number for missing children. The charity already takes 128,000 calls every year and this has extended the opportunities to contact us.”

Christine Renouf, NSPCC Director of helplines, said:
“It’s excellent news that we have been allocated 116 111. This is a positive step towards making sure children are aware there are helplines across Europe which they can access through a single number.”
Catherine Johnstone, Chief Executive of Samaritans, said:
“We welcome the 116 123 phone number which will give anyone in emotional distress a free, short and simple way to call Samaritans. We believe that giving people the chance to talk can alleviate feelings of despair and suicidal thoughts - ultimately saving lives.”

Ofcom’s primary job is to allocate millions of telephone numbers to the communication providers for personal and business use.

Daniel Gordon, Ofcom’s Policy Director, said:
“Ofcom’s role is to enable these numbers to be rolled out in the UK for the benefit of consumers. These new 116 numbers will mean people can call these services wherever they are in Europe.”