Siemens gains market share from Nokia

German mobile makers Siemens took European market share away fom Finnish giant Nokia during the third quarter of this year.

Siemens shipped 5.5 million mobile phones in the period, giving it second place and a 17% share, up 7.5 %.

A new report from research firm Strategy Analytics shows that the world's leading mobile phone maker Nokia saw its market share fall for the first time in two years in western Europe, during the period, as it lost market share to its competitiors.

Nokia's slice of the key market fell nine percentage points to 42% during the three-month period compared with a year earlier according to the research.

The report said Britain, one of Nokia's biggest markets worldwide, was a weak spot for the Finnish giant.

Five vendors accounted for 81% of sales in west Europe and overall, Western European handset sales grew at a 23% rate year-over-year in the third quarter of 2003, and up 7% on the previous quarter.