Kevin, I wonder if the following article is the reason for MOT
to be stupid enough to build a modem with nothing to support it.
Motorola lost digital phone share-Dataquest
Reuters Story - February 25, 1997 19:50
FINANCIAL ELI ENT US TEL MOT LMEb ERICY NOKSa V%REUTER P%RTR
CHICAGO, Feb 25 (Reuter) - Technology giant Motorola Inc
has lost market share in the developing U.S. digital wireless
phone market but remains a formidable player, according to a
survey by Dataquest, an industry research firm.
Shares of Motorola fell on the report, an analyst said,
closing off 1-1/4 at 57-3/8 after dipping earlier to 56-3/4.
According to Dataquest, users bought 117,000 Motorola
digital phones in the U.S. in 1996, a 62 percent drop from
305,000 in 1995. Its market share dropped to eight percent for
the year from 36.3 percent, Dataquest said Tuesday. The study
did not include any units held in inventory.
Motorola said as a policy it does not release production or
market share numbers, but Jim Caile, corporate vice president
of marketing for Motorola's cellular subscriber sector,
disputed Dataquest's figures.
"The numbers as I view it...are grossly inaccurate," Caile
said in a telephone interview.
The Dataquest study reported that Sweden's Telefon AB L.M.
Ericcson captured 55.7 percent of the U.S.
digital phone market in 1996 with 812,000 units sold versus
286,000 in 1995.
Rival Oy Nokia of Finland sold 482,000 units for
a 33 percent market share, up from 242,000 phones the previous
year, Dataquest said.
"Motorola will bounce back and gain share, but they're off
to a slow start," said Clinton McClellan, the Dataquest analyst
who concucted the market study.
"What this highlighted is what the other companies are
doing right, and they are on Motorola's tail," he said, adding
that Nokia and Ericcson were quick to market with their digital
phones and had competitive prices.
McClellan said the two rivals surpassed Schaumburg,
Ill.-based Motorola in the global digital market as well. He
said Dataquest would release a study later this week on the
world digital wireless phone market.
Motorola's Caile and industry analysts noted that the
digital phone market is young and, though growing, still
accounts for only a tiny portion of the worldwide wireless
market. Motorola said digital makes up just three to five
percent of the overall wireless phone market.
Rakesh Sood, an analyst for Hambrecht & Quist, said of the
Dataquest study, "It's last year's data, and I think it's not
totally accurate. This is looking in the rearview mirror as
opposed to looking forward. Looking forward I think the story
will be quite different," Sood said.
Copyright 1997 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions
taken in reliance thereon.
What do you think??
C.H. |
