In the UK it was the best-selling manufacturer for 17 out of 18 weeks leading up to Christmas according to retail data from research company GfK. It only lost the top spot during the week before Christmas when Motorola pipped it after slashing prices heavily on its pre-pay range but regained it the following week.
Sony Ericsson attributed its success to its K800/K790 Cyber-shot phone and Walkman range and to the fact that it maintained retail prices in the face of high consumer demand.
Its global Q4 volume and sales growth topped 60 per cent compared with the end of 2005. Its volume for 2006 increased to 74.8 million units of which 26 million shipped in Q4.
Sales jumped to 10.9 billion (£7.2 billion) for the year of which 3782 million registered during the three months to December 31.
Income before taxes for the quarter was 502 million a year-on-year increase of 144 per cent. Net income for the quarter was 447 million.
In total Sony Ericsson shipped 60 million music-enabled phones including 17 million Walkman handsets across all its markets during 2006.
Sony Ericsson president Miles Flint said: We finished a strong year with record volumes sales and net income due to the soaring popularity of our imaging and music phones. Earlier investments in R&D and marketing have enabled us to expand the portfolio and strengthen the brand to increase consumer and operator appeal.
Our target is to become one of the top three players in the industry and the momentum we established in 2006 makes this an achievable ambition.
Sony Ericsson claimed it had grown its global market share by two per cent during Q4 giving it a current global market share of nine per cent.

The handsets include the 3G 770SH and 2G GX29 both Sharp clamshells. The third is the 3GH-Z720M a 3G broadband slider from Samsung.
All handsets offer Vodafone live! and include video clips and images of the teams F1 car in the new 2007 livery. The handset design will feature a chrome silver cover with highlights in the teams rocket red colour.

Fonesecure is a product that combines insurance automatic registration to an anti-theft database and a phone back-up service bundled together for £5.99 per month.
Customers can view the contents of their phone online and edit the information such as pictures and contacts via the Fonesure online portal.
All the information that is backed up from the handsets will be reconfigured so if a customer loses their handset they can reload all their contacts and settings on to a new device quickly and simply.
Fonesecure also has an arrangement with the Immobilise anti-crime register to register users automatically when they sign up to the product.
Fonesure managing director Mark Gordon said: We have the benefit of being able to offer more than just insurance. We give dealers the chance to build ongoing revenue that isnt linked to volume or churn. We are paying sizable commissions to some dealers even running into five-figure sums.

The new unit is on the same trading estate in Chessington as its current premises and will include a new sales floor and a dedicated space for its expanded IT marketing and administration teams.
It is a move necessary to house our plans for further expansion said Genuine Solutions managing director Bav Majithia.
Genuine solution has also appointed Danny Lack formerly of Intek as its new head of marketing and growth strategies. Lack will oversee the relocation of the business to the new site.
Genuine Solutions sales director Chris McBride said: We are now able to show people that we mean business and are here for the long haul.

The dealers now have to meet six key performance indicators (KPIs). T-Mobile has retained its volume targets of 750 connections which it changed from 500 on December 27.
But 35 per cent of connections must now be business contracts and five per cent of consumer connections must incorporate a WebnWalk tariff into the standard voice package. T-Mobile has also asked for more data connections from its distribution partners. Two per cent of contract connections must include data cards and two per cent must be with a BlackBerry.
T-Mobile has reduced the percentage target of never-pays to less than three per cent. Target percentages of bad debt and 14-day returns remain as they are at under seven per cent.
The shift in focus away from volume towards quality has changed T-Mobiles league table of distributors claimed distribution sources. Several higher volume T-Mobile distributors now rank lower under the new KPIs.
The guys that ranked highly before Christmas have not fared so well said a source.
T-Mobiles highest-volume connectors are Hugh Symons Dextra Solutions and Fone Logistics.
T-Mobile has also increased commissions on its sharer business tariffs by around £30.
Another distributor said: To get business connections T-Mobile has to pay better than Vodafone and O2 not just Orange.

Chairman John McFarnon told Mobile News We recognise that convergence has become a reality and we re establishing a new division to launch a fixed-line offering in January.
McFarnon also reckons the pre-pay bubble has burst. Distributors scrabble around for pre-pay business that the networks don t want. We re shifting our focus. B2B connections are already important to us but we ll be increasing the resource we make available to B2B dealers.

O2 said UK service revenues grew by 14 per cent over its third quarter ending on September 30 compared to the same period the year before. Net new customers grew by 524000 in the quarter contributing to a total customer base of 17.3 million. ARPU was static at a blended pre-pay and contract average of 23 a month. Contract churn over the period was 24 per cent compared to 30 per cent in the same period last year.
O2 CEO Peter Erskine said: In the UK we added net new customers driven by our ongoing strategy of treating both new and existing customers equally. Contract churn was again reduced for the fifth quarter in a row while gross connections grew 15 per cent year on year.
However the network said that the rate of service revenue growth in the quarter was likely to be mirrored in the 11 months to December 31. This is likely to cause operating income margins to be reduced by one percentage point.

EasyMobile has posted up a notice on its web site advising customers that the network will shut down at midnight December 13. Customer accounts will formally close on December 20. Any remaining credit after the shutdown date will be refunded and an alternative arrangement has been made for easyMobile customers to pick up Fresh Mobile accounts from The Carphone Warehouse.
The notice said: The Carphone Warehouse is a reputable operator and if you choose this option we hope that you find their service useful.
The network has promised to port numbers and unlock any phones for customers that want to go to an alternative network.

Vodafone reported a pre-tax loss of GBP 3.3 billion for the six months to September 30 citing tough market conditions in the UK Germany and Italy.

In the UK Vodafones churn rates across its contract and pre-pay base increased from 31.9 per cent last year to 37.6 per cent. Where contract churn has dropped slightly from 21.6 per cent last year to 18.8 per cent pre-pay churn has jumped from 40.5 per cent to 49.9 per cent.

Pre-tax profits for the period jumped to GBP 4.8 billion before pricing pressures and regulatory issues in Europe caused an GBP 8.1 billion write-down in the value of Vodafones German and Italian operations.

At the same time growth and expansion in developing markets and the US saw Vodafone record revenues of GBP 15.6 billion and organic growth of 4.1 per cent. Vodafone shares climbed by over four per cent. It said it was on track to meet targets for the year.

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said: The Europe region remains very competitive with flat organic growth year on year. Of our four principal markets Germany Italy and the UK saw declining total revenue after taking into account the impact of termination rate cuts whilst Spain continued its strong progress posting another period of double digit top line growth.

Higher interest rates along with pricing and continued regulatory pressures in the German market led to an impairment charge of GBP 8.1 billion in the total carrying value of goodwill in respect of our German and Italian operations.