BOSTON-Nokia Corp. managed to reclaim the No. 1 spot from Motorola Inc. in the U.S. handset market, according to new research from research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics.
The firm found the U.S. mobile-phone market continuing to grow, with sell-in volumes increasing 29 percent in the first half of this year. The firm said Nokia’s distribution agreement with Sprint PCS boosted its CDMA sales, helping to push the company’s shipments up 10 percent.
“Nokia and Motorola are very close in the U.S. market,” said Chris Ambrosio, the director of Strategy Analytics’ Wireless Device Strategies. “Both are competing at less than 30 percent of the total market volume, as compared to first-half 2002, when they were each battling four to five points higher. CDMA carriers continue to push for device and vendor diversification. GSM carriers, like AT&T Wireless, are following suit.”
As for the CDMA mobile-phone market in the United States, LG Electronics looks to steal the top spot, the firm said. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Kyocera Wireless Corp. are likely to respond aggressively to protect their overall market share with expanded offerings in both CDMA and GSM.
