Report: Handset market on upswing

New research from Gartner Dataquest indicates that quarterly mobile-phone sales finally exceeded expectations for the first time in more than a year.

The research firm estimates that 98.7 million handsets were sold to end users in the second quarter, an increase of about 1% from second quarter 2001. The growth represents a 5% sequential jump in demand, said the firm.

Nokia, the world’s largest handset manufacturer, posted a market share gain of about 1% during the past quarter, despite a market share loss in the United States and China. Its overall market share reached 35.6% in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Motorola is continuing to erode Nokia’s leading market share position in the Americas, said Gartner.

“Motorola continues to wrestle market share from Nokia in key global markets, in particular the United States and China,” said Bryan Prohm, handset analyst with Gartner. “Furthermore, Motorola is now positioned to strike at Nokia’s core markets, the Western European markets, where Motorola is preparing to launch new GSM phones.”

Samsung is now the world’s third largest handset manufacturer, pushing past both Siemens and Sony Ericsson. It is prepared to grab about 10% of the world’s global share during the last half of the year, the firm said. Siemens, which holds the No. 4 spot, has maintained its position due to its aggressive pricing structure.