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It’s heyday for cell phone manufacturers as the mobile phone shipments has hit a record one billion mark. Nokia was the leader of the pack followed by Motorola and Samsung, according to a research study by IDC.

The cell phone players sold 1.02 billion handsets in 2006, an increase of 22.5 per cent on the 832 million devices shipped in 2005, with a record quarterly sales total of almost 300 million units in the three months ended 31 December 2006.

Ironically, these staggering figures comes at a time when top cell phone manufacturers have reported declining profit margins.

According to IDC, the reason for the colossal amounts of cell phone shipment is the escalating sales in emerging markets of Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Ramon Llamas, research analyst in IDC's mobile technology and tracking team, said, "IDC expects this trend to continue as mature markets reach saturation and emerging markets, with much lower teledensity, provide ample opportunity for handset vendors to attract first-time users."

Ryan Reith, research analyst in IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracking Group, said, We believe the Pearl was a trend-setting device because it was the first pro(con)sumer release from a company that has always been associated with strictly business-focused users. It is no secret that the vast majority of people in society use email, regardless of their profession, and a device like this has made mobile email more of a reality."