Despite retaining a clear lead in terms of market share, Nokia lost ground to both Siemens and Sony Ericsson in a Western European mobile phone market that overall remained flat year on year.

As expected, IDC's European Mobile Phone Tracker research found that price cuts on low-end prepay phones and integrated camera and color-enabled phones stimulated renewals rather than first-time subscribers.

As a percentage of the total market, Bluetooth-enabled handsets remained constant at 18%, while phones with an integrated camera increased from 11% to 14%.

One in two handsets shipped in Q3 2003 had a color screen. Siemens made gains in the low-end prepay market with aggressive subsidies on its A55 handsets, whereas impressive T610 sales for Sony Ericsson on both prepay and postpay contracts, backed by extensive advertising campaigns, helped to drive sales.

Nokia will rely on Q4 2003 and Q1 2004 for the majority of its new handset introductions, including its new 6600 smart phone.

The final quarter of 2003 will see an interesting high-end handset battle develop between the Symbian-based smart phones of Sony Ericsson's P900, Nokia's 6600, and Siemens' SX1 as the vendors compete for the Christmas renewal market.