(The Birmingham Post via NewsEdge) Vodafone is facing up to life without the title of the world's largest mobile phone company.
The Newbury-based group has lost its crown to China Mobile, a company which was only set up in 2000 and now has a market value of 69.7 billion pounds ($131.6 billion), against 57.9 billion pounds ($109.3 billion) for Vodafone.
The change in the world order came last week after Vodafone shares lost 6% of their value and China Mobile extended recent gains, which have lifted its Hong Kong-listed share price by 46% over the past year.
According to reports, China Mobile also claims to be the world's largest mobile phone operator ranked by number of subscribers.
It has more than 200 million customers while the most recent figure from Vodafone shows 186.8 million worldwide. Vodafone's turnover is still ahead of China Mobile's.
The loss of top spot is another blow to Vodafone after several months of boardroom upheaval culminated in nearly 10% of Vodafone shareholders voting against the re-election of controversial CEO Arun Sarin last month.
© 2006 Birmingham Post & Mail
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