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Siemens expecting equipment prices to decline this year

Siemens AG, the world's fourth-largest mobile-phone maker, expects prices for mobile phones and network equipment to fall as much as 10 percent this year, division head Rudi Lamprecht said in an interview.

"There is increasingly fierce competition and prices will remain under pressure," Lamprecht said at the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France. He reiterated Siemens expects the mobile unit to "continue to grow faster than the market."

Munich-based Siemens is vying for Samsung Electronic Co's No. 3 spot in the global mobile-phone market as it introduces more than 30 new models this year.

Lamprecht this month told analysts at a meeting in Munich that handset sales in the current quarter will exceed the year-earlier level. Siemens sold a record 15.2 million units in the first quarter ended Dec. 31.

The mobile communications division, which is called IC Mobile wireless division and consists of five business areas, is the largest by revenue of Siemens's 13 main divisions.

Siemens, whose products also include high-speed trains, power plants and medical equipment, has about 9 percent of the global handset market.

Chief executive officer Heinrich von Pierer has forecast global unit sales of between 500 million and 530 million, as more consumers switch to mobile phones that feature video and camera functions. Siemens will likely sell more than 50 million units this year, he said last month.

Lamprecht has said the company aims to keep its global market share above 10 percent. Market leader Nokia Oyj controls more than a third of the global market.
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