Chinese handset manufacturers are increasing their shipments and their marketshare, albeit from a very low base, according to a report by Forward Concepts. Haier was the fastest-growing vendor from 2006 to 2007, followed by ZTE, RIM (NSDQ: RIMM), HTC and Huawei — Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) isn’t included on the list, probably because it didn’t make handsets in 2006. RCR News quotes IDC saying that Haier has gained the #10 spot in global mobile phone sales. A recent Strategy Analytics report showed that Motorola’s (NYSE: MOT) marketshare seemed to be going to the big handset vendors — Forward Concepts notes a lot of other manufacturers that have reduced handset sales, including NEC and Panasonic, and of course Mitsubishi and BenQ which have both gone out of business.
The study also notes that annuan global handset volume growth will reach 10 percent, with North America growing by 8 percent, Europe by 4 percent and Japan will go negative. China and India will maintain their role as driving volume, but in terms fof subscriber growth developing markets like Vietnam, Peru, India and Egypt lead the way.
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