Handset market set for another bumper year
Cell phone handset sales will reach a record 670 million units this year, says a new report from the market research company Strategy Analytics.
If correct, the figure - equivalent to around 10% of the world population buying a new phone - would represent a huge increase on the 540 million phones estimated to have been sold in 2003.
Handset sales are key to the compound semiconductor industry as cell phones use GaAs ICs in their power amplifier stages, as well as an increasing number of LEDs to illuminate the keypad and screen, and to enable flash cameras on newer models.
157 million units were shipped in the second quarter of 2004, says the report, with Samsung making gains on the current number-two supplier Motorola.
Strategy Analytics had initially forecast that 586 million handsets would be sold this year, but raised this figure by over 14% in the face of strong economic drivers, fierce industry competition, and the roll-out of enhanced wireless services.
Neil Mawston, who authored the report, told Compound Semiconductor.net that another key driver was the widespread transition from monochrome to color phone displays.
"It is a global phenomenon, from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe to the Americas, demand has surged in low-, mid- and high- [end] segments," Mawston added. "The low-end is driving volume in developing markets, while the mid- and high-end color is driving sales in developed regions."
Mawston added that consumers in Brazil and Russia were currently experiencing a "cell phone frenzy".
He also noted that 2005 and 2006 are not expected to be as strong as 2004 for cell phone handsets.
