Russian mobile phone sales seen down 32 pct in Q3

MOSCOW, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Retail sales of mobile phones in Russia likely fell 31.6 percent in the third quarter, reflecting a broader drop in spending across recession-hit consumer markets, Russia's top handset retailer, Euroset, said on Monday.

The number of mobile phones sold in the third quarter was 7.1 million, Euroset said in a note, adding sales were down 34.1 percent in the first nine months of 2009. Euroset, part-owned by Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator, Vimpelcom (VIP.N), also said handset sales were seen falling 28 percent in the whole of 2009 to 26 million units.

According to Euroset, top global handset maker Nokia (NOK1V.HE) had a 38.7 percent share of the Russian mobile handset market in the third quarter, down from 40.2 percent in the previous quarter.

South Korean Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and LG Electronics Inc (066570.KS) lagged with a share of 35.2 percent and 12.4 percent respectively, but managed to increase their market share from 31.3 percent and 7.7 percent respectively. (Reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva; Writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Dan Lalor)