There seems no end in sight for the rise of the mobile phone. Data from research firm Gartner has revealed that manufacturers sold 180.6 million handsets in the first quarter of this year, up 17 per cent on the same period last year.

The top manufacturers - Nokia, Motorola and Samsung - further increased their lead.

Nokia saw its share of the market increase from 28.8 to 30.4 per cent. The company performed especially well in China, one of the fastest growing markets for mobile phones.

Motorola increased its share from 16.3 to 16.8 per cent, Gartner reported, and Samsung claimed 13.3 per cent.

Siemens turned out to be the big loser. The German phone maker saw its market share slip from eight to 5.5 per cent and was the only manufacturer to ship fewer phones than last year.

Gartner pointed to Siemens' sales decline as proof that operators are losing faith in the manufacturer. Siemens has said it is looking to sell its handset division.

The Japanese-Swedish joint venture of Sony Ericsson also underperformed, showing a 0.1 per cent loss in market share.

As Gartner reported a decrease in profit margins, it predicted that more of the smaller manufacturers will be forced to quit the market.