Motorola may be poised to lose its status as the world's No. 2 mobile phone maker, ceding the spot to rival Samsung Electronics, analysts, quoted by an Associated Press report said.
A series of miscues in its handset division has sent Motorola's market share tumbling to 15.3% in the second quarter, down from a high of 22% last year, according to forecasts by CIBC World Markets analyst Ittai Kidron, which were quoted by the report.
Meanwhile, South Korea-based Samsung, which has seen its market share climb to 14.5%, is a close third, the Associated Press report added.
The decline comes about a year after experts thought Motorola was on a path to surpass rival Nokia for a spot as the world's top mobile phone company, it said.
'They were getting close to Nokia and they've really fallen off that pace,' Neil Strother, a Seattle-based wireless analyst for Jupiter Research was quoted by the report as saying. 'That's as big a disappointment as potentially losing the No. 2 position.'
Motorola's stumbles have helped boost Nokia's market share to 37.4% in the second quarter, according to CIBC's projections.
Strother said he does not think Samsung will unseat Motorola within the next year, the report further said.
The report said during the first quarter, Motorola said its market share had fallen to 17.5%, while Nokia said its share was 36%. According to data from research firm Gartner, Samsung accounted for 12.5% of the market in the first-quarter.