By Tarmo Virki, European technology correspondent
HELSINKI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Sweden's Ericsson doubled its lead in the ailing mobile network gear market in the second quarter as its closest rival, Nokia Siemens Networks , lost share, researcher Dell'Oro said on Thursday.
Ericsson kept its percentage share at 32 share of the market in April to June, but its lead to rival Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) grew to 12 percentage points as NSN's share fell to 20 percent from 26 percent a year ago, Dell'Oro said.
The telecoms equipment market has seen cutthroat competition for new business during the past few years, driven by Asian vendors, and the outlook remains tough.
Alcatel-Lucent has forecast the market to shrink 8-12 percent in 2009, while Nokia Siemens has said the market would fall some 10 percent.
Carl-Henric Svanberg, Ericsson's chief executive , told Reuters earlier this week signs of an economic recovery remain elusive, but added he does not see wireless operators cutting capital spending any further.
Nokia Siemens has lost market share for several quarters in a row as the venture is trying to improve its profits and shies away from the tightest competition.
Huawei increased its market share to 17 percent, while its rival ZTE Corp doubled its share to 8 percent through its aggressive pricing policy and generous financial support from state-run banks. Alcatel-Lucent's share fell to 12 percent from 14 percent, Dell'Oro said.
'Over the past year, both Huawei and ZTE have both nearly doubled their share,' said Scott Siegler, senior analyst at Dell'Oro. 'The largest boost to their gain in market share has been the 3G rollouts in China.'
Siegler said both vendors also have won contracts with large telecoms operators in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and both have gained significant presence in India, which is one of the world's fastest growing mobile markets.
The tight market has claimed its first major victim this year. Nortel, once the largest North American maker of telecommunications gear, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. federal court and for creditor protection in Canada's Ontario Superior Court of Justice in January.
Last month, Ericsson won an auction for the key CDMA and next-generation LTE wireless technology assets of Nortel, beating out Nokia Siemens Networks and private equity firm MatlinPatterson.
Nortel, the world's second largest maker of CDMA networks, after Alcatel-Lucent, saw its market share in CDMA drop to 23 percent in the quarter from 33 percent a year earlier, Dell'Oro said.
Ericsson is expected to pose a serious challenge in CDMA to Alcatel-Lucent, whose share stood roughly unchanged at 39 percent.
Huawei and ZTE combined market share in CDMA rose to 28 percent, tripling from a year ago.
(Reporting by Tarmo Virki. Editing Bernard Orr and Robert MacMillan) Keywords: TELECOM EQUIPMENT/ (tarmo.virki@thomsonreuters.com, +358-9-680 50 235, Reuters messaging: tarmo.virki.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
HELSINKI, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Sweden's Ericsson doubled its lead in the ailing mobile network gear market in the second quarter as its closest rival, Nokia Siemens Networks , lost share, researcher Dell'Oro said on Thursday.
Ericsson kept its percentage share at 32 share of the market in April to June, but its lead to rival Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) grew to 12 percentage points as NSN's share fell to 20 percent from 26 percent a year ago, Dell'Oro said.
The telecoms equipment market has seen cutthroat competition for new business during the past few years, driven by Asian vendors, and the outlook remains tough.
Alcatel-Lucent has forecast the market to shrink 8-12 percent in 2009, while Nokia Siemens has said the market would fall some 10 percent.
Carl-Henric Svanberg, Ericsson's chief executive , told Reuters earlier this week signs of an economic recovery remain elusive, but added he does not see wireless operators cutting capital spending any further.
Nokia Siemens has lost market share for several quarters in a row as the venture is trying to improve its profits and shies away from the tightest competition.
Huawei increased its market share to 17 percent, while its rival ZTE Corp doubled its share to 8 percent through its aggressive pricing policy and generous financial support from state-run banks. Alcatel-Lucent's share fell to 12 percent from 14 percent, Dell'Oro said.
'Over the past year, both Huawei and ZTE have both nearly doubled their share,' said Scott Siegler, senior analyst at Dell'Oro. 'The largest boost to their gain in market share has been the 3G rollouts in China.'
Siegler said both vendors also have won contracts with large telecoms operators in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and both have gained significant presence in India, which is one of the world's fastest growing mobile markets.
The tight market has claimed its first major victim this year. Nortel, once the largest North American maker of telecommunications gear, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. federal court and for creditor protection in Canada's Ontario Superior Court of Justice in January.
Last month, Ericsson won an auction for the key CDMA and next-generation LTE wireless technology assets of Nortel, beating out Nokia Siemens Networks and private equity firm MatlinPatterson.
Nortel, the world's second largest maker of CDMA networks, after Alcatel-Lucent, saw its market share in CDMA drop to 23 percent in the quarter from 33 percent a year earlier, Dell'Oro said.
Ericsson is expected to pose a serious challenge in CDMA to Alcatel-Lucent, whose share stood roughly unchanged at 39 percent.
Huawei and ZTE combined market share in CDMA rose to 28 percent, tripling from a year ago.
(Reporting by Tarmo Virki. Editing Bernard Orr and Robert MacMillan) Keywords: TELECOM EQUIPMENT/ (tarmo.virki@thomsonreuters.com, +358-9-680 50 235, Reuters messaging: tarmo.virki.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.