Motorola’s announcement Thursday that it was mulling over a sale or a spinoff of its cellphone division has analysts working overtime figuring out what this could mean for the handset market. Reuters reports that Motorola (NYSE: MOT) will find it difficult to unload the troubled handset division, and that its largest rivals—including Samsung, LG (SEO: 066570), Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK), are unlikely to buy it. First, they’d be paying for Motorola’s brand name, and second, as Helsinki-based OKO Bank analyst Hannu Rauhala notes, “They are all winning market share without buying [the handset division].”

Nokia, which has a 40 percent share of the global handset market, is so far ahead of its closet rival, Samsung, which has a 14 percent share of the market, that even if the Korean handset maker were to buy Motorola, which has a 12 percent market share, it still wouldn’t upset Nokia’s dominance. Plus, analysts note that Nokia can only get stronger from Motorola’s meltdown, while anyone’s attempt to pick up the pieces there won’t be easy--another bonus for Nokia.

Meanwhile, if Korean mobile device makers LG or Samsung were to buy the division, they could instantly boost their US market share where Motorola is still number one. But LG apparently doesn’t have the money, while Samsung is said to be more interested in creating their own products. Indeed, it was partially Samsung and LG’s ability to out-Razr the Razr during its heyday that contributed to Motorola’s decline. Still, Korean analysts, according to the Korea Times, note that if another rival buys the division, Samsung could see its number two position in the US slide away—which could hurt as it derives 80 percent of its sales from the North American market.

Sony Ericsson, currently ranked fourth in global handset sales, could also use a quick market boost with a purchase. But Reuters (NSDQ: RTRSY) reports that Ericsson’s head Carl-Henric Svanberg told analysts that while they were looking at it, because they had to at least consider their options, “we would take a very cautious view on such a thing because we do believe you are better off doing it on your own.” Of course the spectre of Taiwanese manufacturer BenQ’s failed buy-out of Siemen’s handset division still haunts handset makers.

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