Nokia Gains Give LG Pains

As the cell phone industry's big three expands, the smaller players are starting to feel the squeeze.

Handset king Nokia (NOK Quote) is getting its game back, thanks to new phone designs and surging demand in emerging markets. No. 2 Motorola (MOT Quote) has sprung to life on the massive success of its thin metal-clad Razr phone. And Samsung, still riding its global popularity, says it is on track to repeat its strong first-quarter performance, when it shipped 25 million units.

But it seems the No. 4 player, LG, has been left out of the fun so far this quarter. ...