Mar. 5, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Nokia Corp, the world's largest cell phone maker, ranked as the NO.1 cell phone provider in China last year, with its market share in the country rising 2% year on year to 37%, the Shanghai Daily reported today, citing figures from a U.S.-based IT consulting firm, Gartner Inc.

South Korea's Samsung last year overtook Motorola and became the No.2 cell phone provider in the country. Samsung's market share increased to 13% last year, while Motorola's dropped to 6% in 2008 from 10% in 2007.

The consulting firm noted that Motorola has been losing market share as it lacked competitive products featuring 3G technology or touch-screen devices. Nokia and Samsung, however, have been focusing on business expansion and building distribution channels in rural regions.

Nokia earlier said it sold a total of 70.7 million cell phones in China last year, up 38.6% from the previous year, and China has become Nokia's largest consumption market in the world.