Mobile-Phone Sales Decline by 10%

Mobile-phone sales fell 10% in the third quarter as customers held off buying phones until new models appear and as economies slowed, according to Gartner Inc.’s Dataquest Inc. unit. Sales fell to 94.4 million units in the quarter from 104.6 million in the year-earlier period. Shipments of phones by Nokia, Ericsson and Siemens fell from last year, while those by rivals Motorola Inc. and Samsung Corp. rose.

Customers, especially in Europe, are waiting for new phones with access to the Internet that will let them play music and video games. If demand doesn’t pick up as expected ahead of the holiday season, total 2001 unit sales won’t reach 400 million this year.