Research firm Gartner said West European mobile phones sales fell 16.4% in the first-quarter compared with the year-earlier period, the first fall in the region since Gartner began tracking device sales in 2001, Dow Jones reports.

The group said 2008 worldwide unit sales will continue to rise by 10%-15%, driven mainly by booming emerging markets, but the value of the market will be lower than it expected in December due to the current economic slowdown and higher fuel costs that will force some customers in developed markets to delay phone purchases.

Worldwide sales of mobile phones reached 294.3 million units in the first quarter, a 13.6% increase from sales last year.

"While sales in emerging markets continued to be driven by strong net new subscribers' growth, mature markets felt the pressure of an uncertain economic environment," said Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner. Sales of high-end devices in particular were lower as consumers turned to mid-tier devices when looking to upgrade their old phones.

She said phone manufacturers should strengthen their mid-tier offerings to cater to users who are reticent to invest in replacing their old phones while the economic environment remains challenging.

Finnish mobile phone Goliath Nokia Corp sold 115.2 million units for a global market share of 39.1% during the quarter, a sharp gain from last year's 35.5% market share in the same period.

South Korean handset manufacturer Samsung Electronics was in second position, selling 42.4 million units for a first-quarter market share of 14.4% compared with 12.4% in 2007.

Motorola saw a sharp drop in the quarter, selling 29.9 million units. The U.S. phone maker is still struggling to find a successor to its popular Razr handset. Milanesi said the new models it released in the year were not competitive enough to maintain its place in the market. Its market share was 10.2% compared with 18.4% last year.

"Motorola is unlikely to introduce many products in the second half of 2008, a time when most competitors will bring new additions to the market, so it stands little chance of winning back its number two position," Milanesi said. "It may even have to watch out for a threat from current number four player LG."

LG Electronics sold 23.6 million units and had a 8% market share in the quarter, moving up slightly from 6.2% in the same period in 2007. The company overtook rival Sony Ericsson in the quarter to become the fourth largest maker of mobile phones.

Sony Ericsson, the mobile handset joint venture between Japanese Sony Corp and Swedish Telefon AB LM Ericsson fell to fifth place after selling 22.1 million units for a 7.5% market share, a drop from its 8.4% stake last year.

The company struggled in the first-quarter due to a weakened mid-to-higher-end device market, particularly in Western Europe. Consumer spending has slowed, due in part to the global economic slowdown.

Still, Milanesi said with new products for the second half of 2008 and with a stronger mid-tier portfolio, Sony Ericsson is in a good position to win back its fourth place in the market share rankings.