There can only be so many handsets sold in any quarter. Samsung and Sony Ericsson had unit increases of over 30% in Q3. And, now cell phone giant Nokia (NOK) as announced that it sold 111.7 million units, up 26% year on year.

Estimates are that total handset sales worldwide may be growing at 15%.

Nokia had a stunning quarter, especially given its size. Revenue rose 28% to 12.9 billion euros. Net profit was up 85% to over 1.5 billion euros. Its shares of the handset market worldwide rose to 29%. Samsung and Sony Ericsson also say that they picked up share.

So, three of the four largest handset companies have announced Q3 earnings and unit sales. Each is growing faster than the market, and each said the average price of handsets is coming down.

Where does that leave Motorol (MOT), which was the No.2 handset company and has slipped to the third spot. Unless there is something very odd about the global calculation of handset sales, Motorola is out in the cold.

Don’t look for a good quarter from MOT.

Anyone calling Mr. Icahn?

Douglas A. McIntyre

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