The following is market share information for the top five largest mobile-phone manufacturers for the third quarter of 2008. The figures were compiled by research firm IDC.

Nokia Corp. retained its No. 1 position, while Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. scored the No. 2 slot. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications came in third, and Motorola Inc. continued to lose share and came in at No. 4.

The third quarter reflected dismal, 3.2% growth over the year-ago quarter and down slightly from the preceding quarter. The third quarter typically sees a ramp-up in shipments in anticipation of a robust holiday quarter.

Three rays of hope, according to IDC: Nokia, with 39% global market share, has reaffirmed its outlook for the year. Apple Inc. reported 6.9 million devices sold in the quarter, making it the sixth-largest global vendor by volume and third by revenue. And margin-rich smartphones, which typically generate higher average revenue per user for carriers, remain on a strong growth curve.

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5 Responses

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1. YY
   October 31, 2008 06:00 am

   My take is that Motorola till today is still very much a technology company that supplies into industries. It is not a consumer electronics company that a mobile phone is.A mobile phone is a perculiar item. It is a personal consumer electronics item driven by advanced technology but tamed by consumer behaviour. Get the mix right and you will have a winning product.I think Motorola should have hired someone from the consumer electronics world than one from the technology world.It might yet have made another mistake.

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2. Bob
   October 30, 2008 01:12 pm

   Hey Samson - A mobile phone is still a 2 way radio device.. If the radio portion does not work correctly than data or voice will not work properly.. Look at the 'mediocre' iPhone RF performance in comparison. Voice is still a killer Application and will continue this trend for many years to come.. Motorola has continually been a strong and innovative leader and ahead of many copycat companies in the mobile game. They took and still take the gutsy risks in leading technology that most sit back and wait to see what will happen. Motorola can find their way back for sure. Many analysts and reporters these days are either so corrupt, blind, or incompetent to their selective theories, bias, and propaganda that they fail to see the good history and potential in 80 year old companies such as Motorola. Here is my bias theory -to many of you Gen Y spoiled Harvard MBA types you really suck! If the analyst community and the board did not force Chris Galvin out for Zander the company may have not lost some of the root history, pride, family blood, and lessons learned to have regained focus faster.. The Galvins were the family glue for Motorola. Market greed, impatience, continued double digit growth every quarter is not always the most important thing in the this hectic world.. People need jobs to support their families too..

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3. Samson
   October 30, 2008 01:12 pm

   Motorola's core business is two-way radios. They are currently dropping back to their core. They only recommitted themselves to mobiles because they couldn't off load the business. Otherwise they would have. Their Enterprise and Government Business is doing very well. I don't think they'll ever find their way back to a strong mobile business.

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4. Will Robertson
   October 30, 2008 01:08 pm

   I worked with the Motorola teams back in 1986 when we were selling Star Tacs and putting away the DynaTac 8000 bricks. What made them great then is still there for their focus. I say they only need market intel from business focus groups. That's where the main business opps are in my view. Moto did not earn their stripes by catering to small market segments - they need to think big and do it now. It's not about the handsets even though the Razor is the best selling handset of all time. It's about the applications. The handset is just a means to an end. WR

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5. Rebecca
   October 30, 2008 01:12 pm

   Motorola continues to drop for two major reasons. They have been extremely slow to market. A lot of innovative devices have come out causing Motorola to try and keep up when they are so used to being the leaders. The second reason is Motorola has lost their core business. They have their hands in so many different areas of wireless they they've forgotten their roots and no longer have any kind of core business anymore.

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