There's been a significant change in status quo in the Indian mobile phone market during the first quarter of the new year (Jan-Mar 08), with hitherto third-largest player Motorola effectively displaced by Korean handset maker Samsung, reports a leading business daily.

The report cites ORG data to reveal Nokia as retaining top slot followed by Sony Ericsson still at second place while Samsung beating Motorola to emerge the new third-largest player in the Indian handset market.The spotlight is on Samsung as the only major player to have increased market share from 5.7 percent in Jan to 7 percent in March; Motorola, by contrast to have simultaneously lost market share from 6.7 percent in Jan to 5.9 percent in March. And though Nokia did manage to notch top slot, ORG data shows the company to have actually lost market share from 72.3 percent in Jan to 69.5 percent in March. Meanwhile, Sony Ericsson is shown to have maintained 8.1 percent market share from Jan through March.

Samsung claims the increase in market share is due to factors including their channel expansion program, new product launches, and brand activity involving Aamir Khan. Motorola meanwhile attributes the decrease in market share to a change in company focus from entry-level to mid-to-high end phones.