Mobile phone users around the world are expected to grow at less than 6 percent per annum in the next five years, the Taipei-based Market Intelligence Center (MIC, 資訊市場中心) said yesterday.
Handset users are expected to grow to more than 4 billion in 2012, compared to more than 3 billion this year, MIC said in its latest forecast. The mobile phone penetration rate may rise to 57.2 percent in 2012 from more than 40 percent this year, MIC said.
"Growth is slowing as the main driving force will come from replacement demand rather than emerging markets," MIC industry analyst Su Yung-sheng (蘇永生) said.
The annual growth rate was 7.8 percent between 2001 and last year and 10.4 percent between 2001 and 2005, MIC statistics showed.
The handset market is nearing saturation in Europe and other developed countries, Su said, adding that the future growth pickup will be from China and India.
Su projected that mobile phone replacement ratios will grow 68 percent this year.
The world's top five mobile phone brands -- Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics -- will have a 75.3 percent share of the world's handset market, MIC said, without providing a basis for comparison.
MIC said there would be two major trends in mobile phone development: one will focus on low-cost, ultra-thin and multi-function phones, while the other will focus on new technologies and trendy designs.
MIC industry analyst Chen Quan-ming (陳冠名) said user-friendly features such as Micro-Electronic Mechanical Systems (MEMS), 3D Accelerometer and ID verification will become the major features in mobile phones.
The use of MEMS on mobile phones has become very common, including the 3D Accelerometer, which is used in Nintendo's Wii Remote, its wireless controller and Apple Inc's iPhone, Chen said.
Meanwhile, the penetration rate of local 3G mobile phone users has only reached 9 percent, mostly men aged between 45 and 55, the results of a new survey showed yesterday.
The survey, conducted by Brain Magazine (動腦雜誌) and Taylor Nelson Sofres PLC (模範市場研究), found that local 3G mobile users are mostly attracted to the phone's enhanced communication capabilities, with 37 percent of respondents using their phones to send video messages or e-mails.
More than 30 percent of the survey's respondents believe that 3G mobile phones will bring greater convenience to life.
Statistics compiled by the National Communications Commission show that Taiwan has 2.36 million mobile phone users as of the second quarter of this year. Of that number, 27 percent are 3G and PHS users.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit today said in a written response that it respects the judicial process, takes the court ruling seriously and would not appeal in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets case. Last month, a court fined the Taiwan unit of Japan's Tokyo Electron NT$150 million (US$4.74 million) in a case involving trade secrets related to TSMC's sensitive chip technology.
Two of Taiwan’s international carriers, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), have retained the five-star airline rating awarded by international airline review organization Skytrax. Starlux was awarded the distinction for a second consecutive year, while EVA Air received it for the 11th straight year, Skytrax said in statements released yesterday and on Thursday last week, respectively. The five-star rating is considered one of the airline industry's highest honors and is awarded following professional audits of airline product and frontline service standards, Skytrax said. The ratings are based on in-depth assessments using unified global quality standards rather than customer review scores
RSS