Motorola sees sales soaring in 2003

ORLANDO, Florida: Motorola Inc., the No. 2 maker of wireless telephones, said it expects global industry handset sales to rise next year. "We clearly feel there's going to be growth in the market next year," Tom Lynch, head of the Schaumburg, Illinois-based company's cell phone unit, told investors at a Lehman Brothers conference in Orlando, Florida.

He declined to provide further details, saying Motorola would provide its forecast for the industry during its fourth-quarter conference call next month. Lynch also said the industry would see the typical seasonal business in the first quarter, when sales historically dip following the holiday shopping season.

He reiterated Motorola expects industry handset sales this year to finish at around 400 million units, with 115 million coming in the fourth quarter. He said that average selling prices will slightly decline this year. Motorola officials also said the company's cell-phone inventories around the world were largely where they should be.

"Everything seems to be pretty healthy right now in the fourth quarter," Lynch said of Motorola. Motorola rival and industry giant Nokia said last week at its analysts' meeting in Dallas that it expects the global cell-phone market to grow 10 percent in 2003. It has said it expects sales of 400 million units this year.

However, Nokia warned on Tuesday that fourth-quarter sales would be weaker than expected, as demand for networks remained grim and color-screen phones failed to take off.

© Reuters