Study: Motorola Gains On Nokia In U.S.

Falls Church, Va.— Motorola edged out Nokia for top U.S. handset share in the third and fourth quarters of 2002, but Nokia held a slight lead for the full-year period, according to a study by Telecom Trends International.

Of the 72 million handsets sold in 2002, Nokia's share fell to 26.5 percent from 32 percent in 2001, while Motorola's share rose to 26 percent in 2002 from 20.8 percent in 2001.

William Wallace, Telecom's lead analyst for mobile devices and services, pinned Motorola's success on the v.60 series and T720 series phones, both available in different versions for different network formats.

Another research company, Strategy Analytics, attributed Motorola's success in 2002 in part to an aggressive consumer-rebate program and aggressive co-marketing efforts.

Asian manufacturers strengthened their position as Samsung, Kyocera, and LG made "impressive strides," he said. Samsung's share increased from 9.3 percent in 2001 to 11.8 percent in 2002, and Kyocera's share jumped from 8.5 percent in 2001 to 10.5 percent in 2002. Wallace attributed Samsung's success to its CDMA products and its successful entry into the U.S. GSM market.

Sixth-ranked LG edged closer to number five SonyEricsson, having increased its share from 2 percent in 2001 to 6 percent in 2002. SonyEricsson's share declined from 10.7 percent in 2001 to 6.9 percent in 2002, and Audiovox's share fell from 11.5 percent in 2001 to 5.3 percent in 2002.