LUTON, England-A study published by Strategy Analytics reports almost half of all cellular users in Europe can name Nokia Oy as a manufacturer of cellular phones. L.M. Ericsson (45 percent) and Motorola Inc. (42 percent) also achieved strong results, well ahead of second-tier vendors like Alcatel, Siemens and Panasonic, said the study.
The report, “Mobile Communications Service-Europe,” also found 33 percent of those European cellular users surveyed have replaced their phone in the past year, and handset quality and battery performance are the two most important criteria for handset replacement.
“On just about all of the factors that we tested in this survey, ranging from vendor brand awareness to handset feature preferences, Nokia beat all of its major rivals,” said Declan Lonergan, Strategy Analytics’ director of wireless services. “The results provide further evidence of the gap that currently exists between the market leader and its closest challengers.
“In our view, this lead will become even more significant as replacement sales begin to dominate. We found that among power users who use their phone for more than 30 minutes per day, 50 percent are already replacing their handsets every year.
“We estimate that handset replacement will account for almost 40 percent of total unit sales in western Europe in 1999, increasing to over 80 percent by 2003, and from the evidence of our study, Nokia is well-positioned to dominate that market,” Lonergan said.
