The world`s top three mobile phone companies are in fierce competition for the European market.
Europe, which adopts Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) standard, has long been predominated by the world`s largest mobile phone manufacturer Nokia. Recently, however, Motorola and Samsung Electronics, No. 2 and No. 3 mobile phone companies, began to encroach on the market, dealing a serious blow to the heavyweight.
Europe accounts for 30% of the world`s mobile phone market, but many non-European companies have had hard times securing a foothold there.
Samsung and Motorola, which took less than 10% of the European market last year, respectively, increased the shares to two digits in the first quarter of this year, changing the landscape of the market that had been dominated by Nokia and Siemens.
Samsung Electronics shipped 6.5 million units of mobile phones to Europe during the first quarter, accounting for 13 to 14% of the market. Motorola is estimated to take 10 to 12%. But Nokia had to see its share of the market continue falling to less than 40%.
Industry analysts point out that Nokia has sticked to its own business strategy instead of cooperating with wireless operators, allowing Samsung Electronics and Motorola to narrow down the gap.
"We continue to raise our share of the market by maintaining partnerships with wireless operators," said a manager at Samsung Electronics.
Samsung Electronics and Motorola are having a keen eye on the European 3G service market. While Nokia focusing its resources on game and smart phones, these two smaller rivals successfully built partnerships with European 3G service operators. Nokia`s delay in new phones also worked for the two companies.
Yet, Nokia is keen to defend its No. 1 title against the challengers. "We plan to introduce 40 new models to diversify the lineups," said Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Nokia.