Sales of mobile phones are holding up and Nokia has consolidated its position as number one handset maker, new research has found.

Global market share

Nokia: 37.2% Motorola: 17.3% Samsung: 9.8% Siemens: 8.5% Sony-Ericsson: 5.2% Others: 22.1% Source: Strategy Analytics

The study by Strategy Analytics found that Nokia had increased its market share during the April to June period, when it shipped 36 million handsets.

The number two handset maker Motorola also had a good quarter,

But Sony-Ericsson's strategy of concentrating on more expensive phones was hitting sales.

Overall, Strategy Analytics said it expected sales of handsets to climb to 417 million this year, compared with 393 million in 2001.

Sales of mobiles fell in 2001 - the first year-on-year fall since 1990.

Nokia pulling away

In June, Nokia had cut back its growth forecasts for the rest of the year.

But Strategy Analytics said that the Finnish company had expanded its market share in the April to June quarter.

Nokia now has 37.2% of the global market, and saw handset sales climb to 36 million units in the last quarter, compared with 32 million in the first three months of the year.

The second biggest mobile maker, Motorola, also saw sales and market share rise, while sales at Samsung and Siemens held steady.

But Sony-Ericsson saw sales decline, a fall Strategy Analytics blamed on a focus on more expensive handsets.

The research also noted that a number of Asian handset makers making good progress, notably LG.

New technology

Mobile phone makers are hoping that sales will be driven by the introduction of new handsets with more features.

They hope that next-generation services, such as multi-media messaging (MMS), will persuade consumers to upgrade their phones.

MMS allows users to send pictures and sound along with text.