Motorola tumbling to 5th place in phone share

Motorola is likely to fall to fifth place in world cellphone marketshare based on shipment estimates allegedly leaked from companies involved in making the phones in Taiwan. They now predict that the American phone creator will have shipped a relatively low 22 million to 23 million phones in its spring quarter. The number would drop Motorola from fourth to fifth place and give it just 7.3 percent of the market while Sony Ericsson would take over the new spot, climbing to exactly eight percent.

Nokia, Samsung, and LG are believed to retain control of the top three spots, holding 40 percent, 18 percent, and 9.3 percent respectively.

As shipments from Taiwan-area contractors spiked by as much as 40 percent, this reveals that Motorola's shortfall stems more from the more expensive models it produces itself rather than the budget phones contracted out to smaller companies, according to the report.

While Motorola isn't expected to comment on any shipments until its next quarterly results, the company has been on a steady and rapid decline in marketshare which is often credited to weak high-end and mid-range phones as well as a tendency to rely excessively on the 2004 success of the RAZR by producing similar but lackluster successors. Its smartphone lineup is also small compared to rivals such as Nokia or Research in Motion.

Filed under: industry, gadgets
Other story tags: Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, LG, Research in Motion, Sony Ericsson