Asia-Pacific helps push global handset sales : ABI Research

According to ABI Research industry analyst Celia Bo, “The Asia-Pacific region currently makes the largest contribution to global handset sales accounting for 38 per cent of total shipments."

She states that while China is a major source of handset sales, India and Indonesia are also expanding their domestic demand.

 

The Indian handset market is expected to grow from 84.3 million handsets in 2009 to 104 million in 2010, a year-on-year growth of 24 per cent.

Indonesia's 240 million people purchased 33 million handsets in 2009 and that figure is expected to surpass 37 million by the end of 2010. Both markets have been fertile ground for Nokia and the Finnish manufacturer has enjoyed a market-share by producing ultra-low cost handsets that are robust, user-friendly and at the right price-point.

However, while aspiring middle classes purchase high-end feature phones and smartphones, a number of local handset vendors such as Micromax and Spice Mobile in India, and Nexian and SPC Mobile in Indonesia, have stepped in to cater to the low-end and mid-tier segment.

Notes VP and practice director Kevin Burden, “Their game-plan is to push the envelope on providing increasingly feature-rich handsets at aggressive price-points.”