Device

Motorola risks drop from handset top five

Updated:2009/3/5 10:52

Motorola, the troubled US mobile phone maker, could this year lose its status as one of the world’s top five handset manufacturers, according to Gartner, the research firm.

Carolina Milanesi, analyst at Gartner, said that Motorola could be replaced as the world’s fifth largest handset maker in the fourth quarter of 2009 by Canada’s Research In Motion or ZTE of China.

Gartner published research Tuesday showing that Motorola’s market share of mobile unit sales fell to 6.9 per cent in the fourth quarter last year from 11.9 per cent in the same period of 2007.

The deteriorating performance meant Motorola was the fifth largest handset maker in the last three months of 2008.

During the 1990s, Motorola was the largest handset maker, but its performance has slumped following a profit-draining expansion into emerging markets in 2006.

Motorola looks likely to become a niche participant because it plans to focus on selling mid to high-priced mobiles in the US, Latin America and China.

Ms Milanesi said there was a “strong possibility” that Motorola would no longer be one of top five handset manufacturers by the fourth quarter of 2009.

She added that much would depend on Motorola’s plans to sell mobiles based on Google’s Android operating system.

“Unless Motorola really gets Android right I don’t see how they can continue to stay in the top five,” Ms Milanesi said.

The largest mobile makers, led by Finland’s Nokia, are braced for falling unit sales in 2009, which would be the first annual decline since 2001.

The downturn is prompting consumers to replace their mobiles less often, both in developed and developing countries.

Gartner is estimating that mobile unit sales will decline 4 per cent in 2009, with a return to single digit growth in 2010.

Nokia retained its position as the largest handset maker in the fourth quarter of 2008, though its market share fell to 37.7 per cent from 40.4 per cent during the same period of 2007.

Samsung and LG, both of South Korea, increased their share to 18.3 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively.

Samsung has piled on sales with its touchscreen mobiles offering access to the internet while LG is enjoying success in the US at the expense of Motorola.

Sony Ericsson’s market share fell to 7.5 per cent, partly because it has significant sales in western Europe, where consumers started the trend of buying new mobiles less often.

For 2008, Nokia retained its position as the largest handset maker, with a share of 38.6 per cent, followed by Samsung.

Motorola was third, but its share of 8.7 per cent was only just ahead of LG and Sony Ericsson.

 

Source:Financial Times

 Source:Source:Financial Times
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