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Promotions to bolster mobile phone sales

Sales of mobile phones in Taiwan are expected to rise nearly 1 percent to 7.2 million units this year, helped by aggressive promotions by local telecoms operators, a Taipei-based market researcher said yesterday.

To boost third-generation (3G) subscriptions, more telecoms companies, including industry leader Chungwha Telecom Co (中華電信), have started offering free 3G phones bundled with a two-year contract for new subscribers.

The promotional activities should also boost the numbers of 3G handsets sold this year to about 40 percent of total sales, up from 28 percent in the final quarter of last year, said Joyce Chen, an analyst at local market researcher Market Intelligence Center (MIC, 資訊市場情報中心).

In the first quarter, handset sales grew 6.7 percent from the previous quarter to 1.9 million units, MIC’s data showed. 3G handsets made up around 36 percent of the sales, or 679,000 units, the research house said.

As of May 31, the nation’s 3G users numbered 8.6 million, data from telecoms regulator the National Communications Commission showed.

The average selling price of a mobile phone dropped to NT$5,882, mainly because of the promotional activities launched by Chunghwa Telecom for three low-price, entry-level 3G models, to spur replacement demand, Chen said.
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