You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table shows the number of mobile phones sold in millions for a period of six years.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
The table provides information about the sales rates of five major types of mobile phones from 2006 to 2012.
Overall, two brands improved their sales, two brands showed dramatic drops, and one brand had a mixed performance with a negative trend at the end of the period.
There are three clear trends visible in the data. Firstly, two phone brands, Samsung and Apple, demonstrated a consistent rise in sales during the six-year period, Samsung finishing with the highest level of sales overall at 396.5 million in 2012. While Apple made the lowest number of sales at the start, with a mere 2.3 million in 2007, this soared to just under 136 million by the end of the period, paralleling the growth of Samsung’s sales and putting Apple in third highest position.
Nokia had a higher number of sales than Apple at the finish with a total of 335 million; however, this was a marked drop from a previous high of 475 million in 2008. Nokia’s sales were slightly erratic in general, rising rapidly from 2006 to 2008 before dropping in 2009, then repeating the cycle by improving to 463 million in 2010 before slipping downwards to its final result in 2012.
Finally, two other brands, Motorola and Ericsson, followed a more persistently downward pattern.Both suffered the lowest number of sales overall, achieving only 28 million sales each in 2012. Ericsson’s sales dropped rapidly from the highest point of 102 million in 2007 before levelling out and decreasing far less dramatically from 2010 where they were at 42 million. (257 words)
Grade: 9
This is a good answer with an organized structure and lots of supporting detail. The vocabulary is used accurately and there are no spelling or grammar errors. There is a summary of the information included at the end. However, it is a long answer and this could impact on the performance of the candidate when answering Task 2.
