In zahlreichen Postings in diesem Thread habe ich vorhergesagt, dass Nokia durch die Preissenkungen die verlorenen Marktanteile zurückgewinnt. Dem wurde hier - teils vehement - widersprochen.
Gestern kam der "Beweis" in der Financial Times (online):
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Nokia recaptures lost market share
By Robert Budden in London
Published: May 30 2004 21:55
Nokia has seen a sharp rebound in sales of its mobile phones in Europe in recent weeks, in a strong sign that handset price cuts and the introduction of new models have reversed earlier falls.
In April, the world's leading maker of mobile phones cut the prices of some of its handsets by almost 25 per cent following the loss of global market share to rivals such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Siemens.
Nokia had suffered because rivals including Siemens were selling cheaper entry-level handsets and because it lacked a wide enough range of colour screen camera phones in the highly-competitive mid-tier price bracket.
However, mobile phone retailers report that Nokia's market share in Europe has been increasing noticeably in recent weeks as it has recaptured leading positions for sales with some of its handset models.
A senior executive at Carphone Warehouse, Europe's largest mobile phone retailer, with more than 1,100 outlets, said Nokia has now displaced Siemens for entry-level handsets with strong demand for its Nokia 1100 model.
Analysts said this indicated price cuts were having an impact on sales as Nokia introduced the most aggressive price cuts across its range to its low-end phones.
But Nokia has also regained market share at the top end, according to retailers, with its colour screen 6230 model becoming a top seller and with its first mainstream "clamshell" phone, the 7200, also proving highly popular.
Carphone Warehouse said demand for Nokia's clamshell phone was outstripping supply, boding well for Nokia's next range of handsets, six of which have the popular "clamshell" design.
Nokia had come under widespread criticism from analysts for its reluctance to introduce clamshell design phones despite their growing popularity in Europe.
"If this is reflective of what's going on across the wider market, Nokia will be very impressed by what's happening with the 7200," said Ben Wood, analyst at Gartner, the technology research house.
"This does not mean that Nokia has turned the corner. But it would indicate that the Band-Aid they have put on the wound is stemming the flow."
Nokia has traditionally dominated the mobile handset market in Europe with a market share of more than 50 per cent. However, according to figures from Gartner, its European market share fell to just 45.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2003 and some analysts fear it may have fallen further in the first three months of this year.
In recent weeks, approaching 45 per cent of Carphone Warehouse sales are thought to have been Nokia phones, taking it closer to its long-term peaks. Other popular models include colour handsets from Sony Ericsson and folding-phones from Motorola.
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