Motorola managed to remain the world’s second largest cell phone vendor in the second quarter, but the U.S. handset maker lost a huge chunk of market share as consumers turned away from its aging portfolio of products, according to a Gartner report on Thursday.

Motorola sold 39.4 million units in the quarter, giving it a 14.6 percent share of the worldwide market. That was a precipitous drop from the 50.5 million units sold in the same quarter last year, which gave the firm a 21.9 percent market share. Motorola was the only vendor among the top five to lose share in an otherwise strong market.

Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users in the second quarter reached 270.9 million units, a 17.4 percent jump from the same period last year, according to the research group.

The bad news for Motorola was likely to worsen with the arrival of Apple’s highly-touted iPhone, which was not a factor in the second quarter because it was launched with only two days left in the period.

Reports that iPhone will soon be available in Europe could help to spur overall sales of mobile phones in that region (see Three-Way Play for iPhone in Europe). But Gartner said it does not see Motorola regaining its 20 percent share status “until substantial changes are made to its product portfolio.”

Nokia took advantage of strong sales in emerging markets such as China, and mature markets such as Western Europe to gain more than 3 percent market share over the last year.

Finnish handset maker Nokia solidified its dominance of the market by selling 99.9 million units in the quarter, giving it a 36.9 percent market share. In the second quarter last year, Nokia sold 77.7 million units and owned 33.7 percent market share.

And unlike Motorola which has seen the price of its flagship RAZR phone fall to well under $100, Nokia saw the selling price of its high-end N95 rise, according to the report. (see Motorola Dials up RAZR2)

Samsung, which sold 36.2 million units, fell just short of overtaking Motorola. The South Korean group registered a 13.4 percent slice of the market, compared to Motorola’s 14.6 percent. Sony Ericsson consolidated its fourth spot by gaining ground on LG which was fifth.