Moore’s Claw is squeezing Nokia! At least that’s what the 3Q 2003 handset market share data from Gartner Group shows. According to the research group, Nokia is still in first place at 34.2%. Motorola followed with 14.7% and Samsung held third with 11.2%. The remaining members of the top six were Siemens, LG, and Sony Ericsson. For Nokia, its share is down from the prior year’s 35.5%. (All these numbers are for actual numbers of handsets sold, not shipped and thus is more accurate information.)

Gartner notes that this is probably the most competitive environment that Nokia has ever seen. Korean leaders Samsung and LG rolling out many a new handset with customer appeal in both GSM and CDMA, Loop Capital analysts says that they “don’t doubt comments like the ones made by Gartner about Nokia being under attack. It could be bumpy for Nokia as investors look toward its own feedback on share and industry growth in 4Q results.”