SAN FRANCISCO-Motorola Inc. is nipping at the heels of Nokia Corp. and could challenge the company for the top spot in the handset market following years of Nokia dominance in the space.
A new study from research firm Visiongain notes just one year ago Motorola was predicted to fall to third place in the handset market behind Samsung. But the company’s market share grew to almost 19 percent last year, up from 15 percent in 2003, due largely to the success of products such as the Razr phone. Nokia’s global handset market share is about 32 percent.
The popular Razr phone has bolstered Motorola’s sales and elevated its brand image at a time when Nokia’s market share has been sliding, said the report. “Since 2004, Motorola’s profitability has improved, largely due to its innovations, which helped the company to distance itself from its closest competitor, Samsung,” said Prachi Nema, author of the report. “This strategy of product innovation also helped Motorola to position itself more favorably to challenge Nokia.”
Visiongain doesn’t believe Motorola’s success during the last year is a flash in the pan. The firm noted new slim phone models planned this year, as well as new services like iRadio and the company’s focus on marketing to the youth market, will position Motorola to make further market inroads.
But in order to overtake Nokia in handset market share, Motorola will have to challenge the vendor in the European market where it dominates and continue innovating to stay a step ahead of competitors, said the report.
