Color-display phones with built-in cameras will be a mild catalyst for sales despite the absence of killer applications in the cellphone segment, industry officials and analysts said yesterday.
"Color-screens and embedded cameras will be standard equipment for our new models next year," said Tom Hsiao (
"Consumers will see no more gray-scale Moto mobile pones in April as we expect our V60 and V66 models will be off the shelves of local handset shops," Hsiao added.
Motorola, the largest mobile phone vendor in Taiwan with a 27 percent market share, plans to roll out 20 to 30 new models next year. To cater to Asian customer's tastes, the company said 70 percent of their new models will be clamshell-style phones.
Most industry watchers expected to see handset replacement increase next year. But, "without killer applications to bring booming demand, those with embedded digital cameras and color display phones will be a catalyst for the stable handset market," said Steven Tseng (
Tseng predicted global mobile phone shipments would rise by as much as 10 percent next year from this year, boosted by the ongoing replacement of monochromatic-screen phones.
International research institute IDC said global mobile phone shipments reached 471 million units this year and expects the number to reach about 620 million units in 2007 on an annual growth rate of 7 percent.
In mature markets, color-screen handsets comprise a growing proportion of total sales, while the volume of camera phones is also increasing. Gartner analysts said demand for low-cost phones has also continued.
Expressing a similar view, Benny Lo (
Color-screen phones are expected to account for about 60 percent of total mobile phone shipments next year, up from more than 30 percent this year, he said.
While camera phones are likely to grab a bigger portion of total mobile phone shipments next year from 10 percent this year, Lo said growth momentum will be limited because of poor photo quality.
Motorola, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, also plans to introduce at least three new smart phones to Taiwan next year, according to Hsiao.
There will exist a significant demand for smart phones during the second half of next year, accompanied by maturing 2.5-generation mobile phone services and the deployment of speedy third-generation (3G) infrastructure, Hsiao said.
Some analysts, however, have a different view about the growth potential of the smart phone market.
"We don't see strong demand coming out next year, as there is still a long way to go toward the fulfillment of providing 3G mobile services worldwide," Lo said.
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