The latest handset figures for the third quarter are out from Strategy Analytics, and there’s no surprises. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) took 39.2 percent of the market, followed by Samsung with 14.9 percent, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) with 13.1 percent and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) with 9.1 percent. “Two hundred and eighty five million mobile phones were shipped in the third quarter, up 12 pct from the previous year...Demand was strong in emerging markets, particularly Asia and Africa” reports Thomson Financial.

Meanwhile, The Register notes a new report by Portio Research claiming that half the world will have a mobile phone by next year, and 75 percent of people in the world will have a phone by 2011. Most of this growth will come from the Asia Pacific region, particularly rural areas in countries like India and Pakistan, rather than Africa (as was previously thought), according to Portia.