Motorola defends 2nd spot in Gartner's list

In a mobile handset market characterized by strong unit growth and continuing price pressure, Nokiacould strengthen its worldwide pole position in Q2. According to Gartner figures, Motorola continued its steep decline, but it managed to defend its second position.

Gartner attributes Nokia's success to its aggressive pricing strategy. The Finnish handset manufacturer could improve its market sharefrom 33.7 percent in Q2 2006 to 36.9 percent in Q2 2007. During the same period, the company raised the number of units shipped from 77.75 millions to 99.96 million.

Motorola's shipments, in contrast declined from 50.53 million to 39.49 million, causing the market share to slip drastically from 21.9 percent in Q2 2006 to 14.6 percent in Q2 2007.

Samsungupped its market share from 11.2 percent to 13.4 percent, possibly exceeding Motorola in the quarter ahead. Sony Ericsson, worldwide number four, increased its market share from 6.6 percent to 9 percent. LG similarly improved its share from 6.3 percent to 6.8 percent.

The entire market volume grew 17.4 percent to 270.9 million units. Gartner predicts global phone sales will reach 1.13 billion units in 2007.

Market growth was once again fueled by demand in emerging markets in Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific, and also in the more mature markets in Western Europe and North America, said Gartner mobile devices research director Carolina Milanesi. "Apple stole the limelight in the quarter with the introduction of its iPhone in North America in the last two days of the quarter," she explained. "But we will only be able to assess Apple's impact in the quarters to come."