Samsung passes Motorola in Q2 — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Falling further behind Nokia} Samsung passes Motorola in Q2

15 Jul 2007 at 15:40 GMT Timo Poropudas

As the two, next-largest handset vendors fling themselves at the dual prospects of entry-level phones in emerging markets and upgrade cycles in mature markets, all in an effort to compete with Nokia Corp.’s breakaway, a few rivets are coming loose.

Motorola’s stumble has enabled Samsung Electronics to seize again the global, second-place ranking in global mobile phone market share.

Samsung shipped out 37.4 million handsets in the second quarter, compared with Motorola’s self-projected volume of 35 million to 36 million. Samsung’s unit volume is up nearly 50 percent over the year-ago quarter. Like Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Samsung has capitalized on Motorola’s weakness in the European market to gain share.

Samsung’s financial results on its massive second-quarter volume growth lagged far behind. The overall company earned revenue of USD 16 billion for the second quarter, a mere four percent up from the year-ago quarter. Net income in the quarter was USD 1.5 billion, down five percent from the year-ago quarter.

Samsung’s average selling price, as in Sony Ericsson’s case, has eroded with a push for market share and emphasis on entry-level models. Samsung’s ASP (average selling price) in the quarter was USD 148, a five percent down from the previous quarter.

Samsung attributed its performance to its Ultra Edition line of handsets in mature markets and its increased volume of entry-tier handsets in emerging markets.

Meanwhile Strategy Analytics predicts that Nokia will be very close in reaching its long-term goal of 40 percent market share when it reports its sales in August.