Europe's mobile operators sell fewer phones but gain share as budget market shrivels

European mobile operators are gaining a slightly larger share of smartphone sales, not because they are selling more devices, but because other sales channels are shrinking faster. This is according to market watcher Counterpoint Research, which says that sales of new smartphones through European operators were down by 4 percent during the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period a year ago. But device sales through the open market fared much worse, declining by 11 percent.