China's Cellphone War Pushes Top Players into Red

From Reuters: China's cellphone war pushes top players into red

"China's top two cellphone makers reported steep quarterly losses on Tuesday, as the pair and their peers faced stiff competition on their home turf from global giants Motorola and Nokia."

"Ningbo Bird Co., China's biggest cellphone maker, plunged into the red in the second quarter, posting a loss of 133.25 million yuan ($16.45 million) after making a small profit in the first quarter, according to Reuters' calculations from interim results.
Bird's biggest domestic rival, TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd., also reported a second quarter loss -- its third consecutive -- of HK$467 million, compared with a HK$96 million profit in the same period a year ago, according to Reuters calculations."

"The pair are among a group of homegrown Chinese firms that had steadily grabbed market share in the early part of the decade, taking about half of the market from a sector previously dominated by foreign companies. But their collective share has dropped steadily since 2003 to less than 40 percent, with analysts blaming their limited ability to quickly develop new models in an industry where product lifecycles are becoming shorter and shorter."

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