Nokia claimed a new high of 36% marketshare for 2006, its highest year ever for leading the globe in wireless handset marketshare. Funny though -- I see less and elss Nokia handsets now here in the U.S.But, Nokia's growth for Nokia slowed in Europe and it dropped from the CDMA marketplace pretty much -- while just "being there" to U.S. carriers meant that Nokia saw a 40% drop in shipments to North America over the year-ago quarter. Upped marketshare but a huge drop in shipments to North America -- where is its marketshare coming from then?
Nokia probably wants to grow alternative selling channels, have patience as the carrier-dominated model frays (and it is, albeit slowly), and watches as the growth of smartphones happens.
In other words, Nokia does not appear to like the U.S. carrier market and the stranglehold the carriers have on markets. The customer, as always, appears to be afterthought here.
