The largest annual telecommuni-cations trade fair in Asia, CommunicAsia, opened in Singa-pore yesterday on an upbeat note with the biggest players predicting continued robust growth for the industry.
The Singapore-based fair, cancelled last year because of the SARS epidemic, is back with a vengeance, featuring a stellar cast that includes South Korea's Samsung and LG Electronics, Motorola of the US, Sony of Japan and Sweden's Ericsson.
Organizers of the trade fair estimate that more than 40,000 international visitors from 79 countries will attend CommunicAsia. Mobile phone giant Nokia is not an official participant in the fair, but is holding its own showcase conference at a different venue.
"While the heady days of the dotcom boom are not likely to return in the near future, the infocomm industry is certainly enjoying sustainable growth," Singapore's Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lee Boon Yang, said in his opening address.
This sense of optimism is evident not only in the Singapore information and communications technology industry, but also globally, he said.
Projections by research house International Data Corp show information technology spending in the Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan will be worth at least US$88 billion this year, up 10 percent from last year, Lee said.
"This represents a sharp increase from the 3.4 percent growth seen in 2003 reflecting the continuing recovery in regional economies," he said.
A major highlight at the trade fair this year will likely be the demonstration of third generation (3G) services by Ericsson and Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel).
Visitors to Ericsson's booth will get the chance to experience "live" services like video telephony using 3G-enabled handsets and networks.
The latest "smartphones" to be displayed by South Korea's Samsung, which is now posing a serious threat to US and European mobile phone rivals, are also likely to dazzle visitors during the four-day fair.
Samsung will launch more than 20 new mobile phones, including a one-megapixel GSM camcorder phone that features a "swing and flip" rotating display ideal for capturing and viewing images.
Nokia executives said on Monday that the number of mobile users in the world is expected to hit the two billion mark in three years' time, with the Asia-Pacific market accounting for the bulk of new subscribers.
By 2007, the region will see 300 million new mobile phone users out of the 500 million expected globally.
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