Cell phone sales boom

AMSTERDAM – Global sales of mobile phones exceeded even the most bullish expectations in 2003 and market researchers said this week the handset industry will enjoy an even better 2004 as new, fancy models catch on.

Mobile phone sales to consumers topped 510 million units in 2003 and will exceed 560 million units in 2004, according to the big three research groups that track the world’s biggest consumer electronics segment of mobile handsets: Gartner Dataquest, IDC and Strategy Analytics. “It is an exceptionally strong market.It’s much stronger than the handset makers themselves have indicated,” said Gartner analyst Ben Wood.Most handset makers said the total market was around 460 million units in 2003, while market researchers themselves had expected 500 million, up from around 420 million in 2002.It is the first year since 2000 that handset demand rose more than 10 per cent as the sector strove to cater to both emerging markets and choosier customers in rich economies.Cell phone producers are now benefiting from booming emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia, where they sell relatively cheap handsets to first-time buyers, as well as from existing customers in the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, who are replacing old models.Japan is leading this trend.Two years after the world’s first third-generation mobile networks were launched there, consumers are now embracing services such as video conferencing on models with built-in cameras and large colour screens.In North America and Western Europe, consumers are also ditching their old monochrome models for those with colour displays and cameras, but use less-advanced data services such as picture messaging because networks have not been upgraded.Smartphones, which feature calendars, email, pictures, music and other services in one device, were one of the fastest growing new categories, IDC said.Worldwide shipments for 2003 rose 182 per cent to 9,6 million devices (see also page B11).The world’s top six vendors still take about 80 per cent of the global market, but aggressive Asian rivals, many of which are based in China, put pressure on prices and are gaining market share, Strategy Analytics found.- Nampa-Reuters”It is an exceptionally strong market. It’s much stronger than the handset makers themselves have indicated,” said Gartner analyst Ben Wood. Most handset makers said the total market was around 460 million units in 2003, while market researchers themselves had expected 500 million, up from around 420 million in 2002. It is the first year since 2000 that handset demand rose more than 10 per cent as the sector strove to cater to both emerging markets and choosier customers in rich economies. Cell phone producers are now benefiting from booming emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia, where they sell relatively cheap handsets to first-time buyers, as well as from existing customers in the United States, Europe, Japan and South Korea, who are replacing old models. Japan is leading this trend. Two years after the world’s first third-generation mobile networks were launched there, consumers are now embracing services such as video conferencing on models with built-in cameras and large colour screens. In North America and Western Europe, consumers are also ditching their old monochrome models for those with colour displays and cameras, but use less-advanced data services such as picture messaging because networks have not been upgraded. Smartphones, which feature calendars, email, pictures, music and other services in one device, were one of the fastest growing new categories, IDC said. Worldwide shipments for 2003 rose 182 per cent to 9,6 million devices (see also page B11). The world’s top six vendors still take about 80 per cent of the global market, but aggressive Asian rivals, many of which are based in China, put pressure on prices and are gaining market share, Strategy Analytics found. – Nampa-Reuters