Nokia accounted for 26 percent of the 24.8 million handsets sold in China during the first six months of the year, down from a 30-percent share at the end of 2001, according to a report by Beijing-based Norson Telecom Consulting. Motorola's market share remained at 31 percent, the report said.

Ericsson AB, which has a handset venture with Sony Corp., saw its market share drop to less than 2 percent at the end of June from 11 percent at the end of last year, according to the report. The company's sales declined because its handsets didn't suit the Asian market and because of regulatory hurdles concerning its venture with Sony in China, the report said.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd., announced yesterday it won approval from the Chinese government to set up operations in Beijing.

Both Motorola and Nokia employ thousands of people in China, their second-largest handset market after the U.S., and supply both the domestic and global markets from Chinese mainland plants. China overtook the U.S. last year as the world's biggest mobile-phone market.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. saw its share of the market in China climb to 6 percent at the end of June from 4 percent at the end of last year. Germany's Siemens AG remained at 8 percent, Norson said.

Sales at local manufacturers, including Ningbo Bird Co., Hisense Electric Co. and TCL Communication Equipment Co., surged 30 percent in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year.

Last year, Chinese consumers bought 50.2 million mobile phones, the report said. At the end of June, China had 176.2 million cell-phone users, according to government statistics.

(Shanghai Daily August 13, 2002)