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Handset shipments topped 500 million in 2003

Two analyst firms have said that well over 500 million mobile handets were shipped in 2003.
Early estimates from Gartner Dataquest suggest that worldwide mobile handset sales might have exceeded 510 million units in 2003.

The Gartner estimate is based on manufacturers’ shipments into the distribution channel (“sell-in”) in the fourth quarter of 2003. Data from “sell-through” sales (i.e. sales to end-users/consumers) measures the market more accurately and will be available from Gartner by March 2004.

Early indicators show that the positive trend in the mobile handset market is continuing in 2004. Based on preliminary forecasts, Gartner has provisionally raised its forecast for mobile phone sales this year to 560 million units.

"2003 was a phenomenal year for the mobile phone industry, with an average growth rate of nearly 20 percent,” said Ben Wood, principal analyst with the mobile communications group for Gartner in Europe.

“The SARS virus had a significant effect on sales in Asia/Pacific during the second quarter, but sales picked up remarkably in the last two quarters.”

Mature markets, including the United States, Western Europe and Japan, saw a surge in replacement sales, with color screens and camera phones high on consumers’ shopping lists. There was also a high level of demand for inexpensive voice-centric handsets. In Japan, W-CDMA and cdma2000 phones sold particularly well, especially those featuring built-in cameras.

In the emerging markets, such as China, India, Russia and Brazil, sales continued to surpass expectations due to availability of very low cost phones and aggressive operators’ strategies to win subscribers. In India, for example, stronger than expected demand resulted in at least 18 million handsets being sold in 2003.

IDC estimates 2003 sales hit 533 million units

Another analyst firm, IDC, has estimated that worldwide mobile phone shipments grew by 29.7 percent year-over-year in the December quarter of 2003, and increased sequentially by 21.8 percent to 167.8 million units.

For the full year, IDC says that shipments grew 23.3 percent from 432.7 million units in 2002 to 533.4 million handsets in 2003.

“Worldwide mobile phone manufacturers grew their sales by tapping into robust demand in emerging markets in Asia and Eastern Europe,” said David Linsalata, analyst in IDC s mobile devices program. “In addition to driving increased sales, first-time buyers preference for more expensive midrange and high-end mobile phones helped to drive additional revenue to phone manufacturers.”

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