Vodafone's own-branded handsets have sold better than those from market leader Nokia of Finland, the head of the British mobile phone giant has told Finland's Kauppalehtinewspaper.
Vodafone chief executive Mr Christopher Gent said Vodafone-branded handsets made by Japan's third-largest mobile phone maker, Sharp Corp., are "flying off the shelves" and outstripping sales of Nokia's phones.
About 40 per cent of Vodafone clients use Nokia handsets, but that will likely fall in the next few years, he said in an interview with the business daily this morning.
"It is highly unlikely that four years from now Nokia's share of our mobile phone sales will be close to 40 per cent. A number of handset makers have come to the market and they are eating Nokia's market share," Mr Gent said.
Sharp announced last October it would ship 400,000 camera phones to Vodafone in a bid to take its domestic success overseas.
Mr Gent also said Vodafone will at the end of this year finish building a British network for providing third-generation mobile phone services that would become available to clients next year or in 2005.