Motorola sales slip in U.S.
Posted
Aug 19 2008, 10:06 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Motorola is having a difficult time selling phones in the U.S., although it's still -- just barely -- the market leader. Motorola already reported a 22% drop in handset sales for the second quarter. Today, research firm The NPD Group said that Motorola's rivals swooped in and gained market share as Motorola's declined.
Now, the company has a 21% market share in the U.S. Samsung and LG are tied at 20%, while Nokia has 9% and Reseach in Motion's BlackBerry phones are at 7%. Apple's 3G iPhone didn't go on sale until after the quarter ended.
Motorola's new phone exec is in the middle of a 90-day review period to figure out what to do with the handset division. Boosting U.S. market share has got to be one of his top priorities.
Even without the iPhone, it's clear that consumers are leaning toward more sophisticated handsets with a QWERTY keyboard. About 28% of handsets sold had this feature, compared with 12% the year before. And 19% of all phones sold were smartphones, compared with 10% the year before.
