Nokia, Motorola command half of world market for new mobile phones

Nokia and Motorola manufactured about half of all mobile phones sold worldwide during the second quarter of 2005, according to statistics published by the research institute Gartner.

From April to June, 190.5 million handsets were sold globally, a 21.6-percent increase compared to the same period of 2004.

Both companies increased their market share, with leader Nokia accounting for 31.9 percent of all sales and Motorola in second place with 17.9 percent.

Sales of Nokia were boosted by demand in in North America and Latin America, where the Finnish company reclaimed the number one spot.

US-based Motorola has made significant inroads in the western European market and is now the second biggest manufacturer of phones, a leap from fifth place a year ago, Gartner said.

For the world market, Korean phone makers Samsung and LG increased their market share to 12.8 percent and 6.5 percent at the expense of Sony Ericsson and Siemens, which saw their market share fall.

Sony Ericsson had a 6.2 percent share, while Siemens had 4.7 percent.

Source: AP