Ouch. According to Gartner, Motorola has sold 38% less phones in the third quarter of this year than the same quarter of last year. Samsung has taken over the number 2 spot, while Nokia now enjoys 38% market share. All despite total mobile sales increasing by 15% to reach 289 units.

Gartner's report speculates on the reason behind Motorola's troubles:

Its problems have been two-fold, according to (Gartner analyst) Milanesi. Motorola hasn't developed a phone to ignite the imagination in the way its popular Razr did a few years ago, she said, leaving it with a weak line-up. "The Razr2 has done okay, but it's not had the same impact that the first Razr did," she said.

In addition, Motorola's sales into the channel - or the phones it ships to retailers - have been weak, she said. This was offset in the first half of the year because retailers had a buildup of Motorola stock, which they could sell at low prices to boost shipments, she said. "This quarter the sales into the channel are still weak, but they don't have much inventory to do fire sales like they could in Q1 and Q2."

In the same breath, Milanesi calls Nokia "unassailable," selling over 110 million phones in just one quarter. So it looks like that the dominance of the Finns isn't changing any time soon. Which suits me just fine. Let's just see what the other industry analyst companies say.