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Nokia, not surprisingly, extended its market lead in the spring. The other major players are scrambling for position.

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By John McCormick

It's always interesting to watch heated market races—and the mobile phone market definitely falls in that category.

Nokia, not surprisingly, extended its market lead in the spring. The company sold 120.4 million mobile phones in the second quarter, according to just-released numbers from market researcher Gartner, and widened its lead to control 39.5% of the global market.

"Sales in the ultra low-cost segment remained strong thanks to Nokia's distribution strategy, economies of scale and brand power. However, competition is increasing in this segment and at the high end," Gartner said.

Yet Nokia isn't sitting still. The company is cutting prices of its mid-tier products. That, along with its varied product line and upcoming touch-screen device, should help the company increase its market share, according to Gartner.

As for the other players - it's a scramble. Samsung rose to No. 2, with a 15.2% market share, pushing aside Motorola, whose market share slipped from 14.5% last year to 10% in the just-completed quarter. And LG jumped from the No. 5 spot to the No. 4 spot by increasing its market share from 6.8% to 8.8%

Here's a look at how all the major players did in the quarter:

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