Posted on Wednesday, August 13 2008 @ 7:11 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Despite bad financial results Motorola is still the biggest player in the US mobile phone market with a marketshare of 26 percent. Research firm Strategy Analytics estimates 41.9 million phones were shipped in the second quarter of this year, up 5.3 percent from 39.8 million a year earlier.
Motorola Inc. (MOT) managed to cling to its lead in U.S. market share at 26%, when many thought it would fall from that perch. Its cellphone unit posted a wider loss of $346 million in the second quarter, and the company has said it plans to split off its handset unit from its other operations, which were profitable enough to offset cellphone losses in the quarter.
Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, commented that "Motorola is not yet out of the woods, but these are encouraging, early signs of stabilization."
Globally, the company has seen its market share fall to third from first since 2006. Some were surprised it even held onto to that spot, as fourth-in-line LG Electronics Co. (066570.SE) has climbed within two percentage points and appears poised to overtake the sinking giant.
South Korea's LG made a return to No. 2 in the U.S. market as it sold 16.8 million phones in the first half of the year and aims to hold 22% of the market by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Research In Motion Ltd.'s (RIMM) Blackberry phones gained a double- digit market share for the first time in the U.S. as the Canadian firm continues to increase the number of handsets it offers.
Overall, the quarter appeared better than expected for phone makers as worldwide leader Nokia Corp. (NOK) reported a large jump in sales while Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) said its handset sales helped boost its profit 51%.
More info
at CNN.
