CDMA handset market perspective...
wirelessweek.com
AUDIOVOX IN FOURTH PLACE HOWEVER, NOKIA STILL RULES THE
HANDSET ROOST
By Monica Alleven
It is no surprise that Ericsson has lost U.S. market share in wireless handsets in the past
year. What may surprise is that a lesser-known digital competitor, Audiovox, popped
out of relative obscurity and captured a top-four position.
Audiovox, you say? Sounds like a car stereo dealer. Indeed, Audiovox sells stereo
sound systems and accessories. It also sells CDMA phones, which is what propelled
the company from a cursory note in market-share reports to a coveted top spot. To be
sure, not everyone buys the Audiovox story. But several leading industry analysts say
AUDIOVOX HIT THE CDMA BUTTON AT THE RIGHT TIME WHEN LARGER
RIVALS DIDN'T HAVE A GOOD CDMA OFFERING, especially for the lower end
of the retail scale. In fact, Dataquest predicts Audiovox will hold the No. 3 market share
position in 2000.
Here's how the latest report from The Strategis Group on 1999 shakes out, with some
predictable results. Nokia once again dominates the U.S. market, with 34.5 percent
share. So what? Everyone knows Nokia is top dog. Motorola is second, with 23.1
percent share-another yawner, although it is worthwhile to note Big Mo regained
ground after its embarrassingly late arrival in the digital game. Qualcomm, which is
selling its handset division to Kyocera Corp., won about 12 percent market
share-double that of two years earlier but another snoozer given CDMA's tremendous
growth and Qualcomm's singular CDMA strategy.
But Audiovox? A non-facilities-based distributor with an 11.8 percent share, it ran
closely behind to Qualcomm. Why? Audiovox has OEM agreements with several phone
manufacturers, mainly in Asia, allowing for flexibility to give customers what they want,
when they want it. "The development of the Audiovox brand name has been secondary
to their development of strong strategic relationships with operators," says Dataquest
analyst Bryan Prohm. "Audiovox is all about providing the carriers with exactly the
product that they are looking for."
There are skeptics. Audiovox is "up and down like a yo-yo," never achieving a long
shelf life, says Ray Jodoin, senior analyst at Cahners In-Stat Group (which like Wireless
Week is owned by Cahners Business Information). "They're directing their advertising to
the retailer," Jodoin says. "You don't turn on your TV and see an Audiovox ad." Other
analysts privately say Audiovox doesn't deserve accolades because its low-end phones
tend toward the black, boxy and boring rather than technically innovative or
ergonomically appealing.
A spokeswoman at Audiovox would not comment on market share reports, citing a
quiet period ahead of a public share offering. Audiovox uses Toshiba, Mitsubishi and
other foreign manufacturers to produce its phones.
What happened to Ericsson, one of the most widely advertised brands? Ericsson
doesn't have a CDMA phone; it's due out in the second quarter. Still, Ericsson says its
U.S. market share is more like 11.5 percent, not the 9.6 percent estimated by The
Strategis Group. And, says Marketing Vice President Jeff Mandell, Ericsson's 2000
offerings will push it to the No. 3 U.S. slot this year. But he concedes 1999 wasn't a
good year for Ericsson, whose market share in 1997 was 20 percent.
Although their estimates vary by a few percentage points, analysts at industry research
firms Data-quest and the Yankee Group for the most part agree with the Strategis
findings. Around the globe, Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson still dominate the market.
Estimating market share is a risky business. Analysts rely on interviews with vendors,
stores and service providers, and companies have not yet released their 1999
fourth-quarter results.
"It's a tricky exercise," Prohm admits. "There's a finite amount of phone [manufacturers],
and the pieces of the pie can only add up to 100 percent. Naturally, some people are
going to think they have more than they really do." Lucky for Nokia, its slice is still too
big to quibble over. And for Audiovox, well, it's singing like a blackbird. |
