Nokia Debuts New Phones In Shrinking MarketNokia Debuts New Phones In Shrinking Market

Nokia Corp. launched three new cell phones Monday, looking to give the slumping handset market a jump-start with cutting-edge features and functionality.

New models include the 7560, a high-end mobile with a color display, integrated digital camera, and the ability to send multimedia text/photo instant messages. The phone supports high-speed General Packet Radio Service technology, which allows for an always-on Internet connection, as well as WAP, Bluetooth, and infrared connections. Nokia expects to start shipping the handset to Europe and Asia in the second quarter of 2002. Other releases include the lower end 6510 and 5210 phones, which will ship in the first quarter.

The new phones debuted on the same day that a Gartner report showed sales in the global cell phone market shrinking. Worldwide shipments were down 9% in the third quarter of this year, plummeting to 94.4 million units from 103.2 million in the same quarter last year. The report shows Nokia still on top of the industry in terms of market share, accounting for 33.4% of all units shipped. Motorola Inc. came in a distant second, with 15.7% market share, and LM Ericsson placed third at 8%.

Gartner senior analyst Bryan Prohm says the decline is due in large part to slumping sales in Western Europe, where the market has matured much faster than in the United States. "It's saturated. You've got 75% to 80% penetration," he says. "There's not a huge pool of new subscribers." Prohm says the spread of GPRS technology and other new features such as instant messaging will help fuel future upgrade sales and keep the market going.