The Swedish-Japanese mobile telephone manufacturer Sony Ericsson says that it has overtaken the Finnish Nokia as the best-selling brand in Sweden. The company says that it has also move ahead of Nokia in Norway.
The competition between the two companies is apparently quite even, with Nokia maintaining that it is still the market leader in Norway. Nokia also says that it is equal to Sony Ericsson in Sweden. Markus Nummisalo, the head of marketing of Sony Ericsson in Finland and Estonia, attributes the company’s success to having the right products.
Nummisalo says that Sony Ericsson’s market share in Sweden was about 40% in the early part of this year. In Finland the company’s market share is just seven percent, although its sales in Finland have grown considerably.
Sony Ericsson wants to at least double its sales in Finland. Next year it hopes to have a 15-20% share of the Finnish mobile phone market.
The company has increased its marketing efforts in Finland, focusing on the attraction of its new products.
On Monday Sony Ericsson showed off four new models that it plans to introduce later this year and early next year. Later this year the new P910i version of its PDA phone will come on the market, as will the new S700i camera phone, which has the appearance of an ordinary digital camera on one side.
Nokia is the undisputed market leader in Finland. Although there are no official figures, estimates are that between two thirds and three quarters of all mobile telephones sold in Finland are manufactured by Nokia.
The German Siemens and the South Korean Samsung have a ten percent market share in Finland. Samsung says that it hopes to get about 20% of the Finish market in a few years.
Electronics wholesalers estimate that 1.4 million mobile telephones will be sold in Finland this year.
Markus Nummisalo describes the Finnish market as challenging for Sony Ericsson. He says that the "market is not as free here as it is elsewhere".
Sony Ericsson would like to see an end to the ban on selling handsets at a discount to subscribers of a particular mobile service. Finland and Italy are the only European countries in which such a ban is in force.
The law banning the linkage of subscriptions and handset sales prevents the installation of operator-specific features into the handsets themselves.
A change in the law is under consideration at the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
