Mobile Phone Unit Sales in Taiwan to Reach 7.2M in 2008

(Business News & Technology News, 3 Jul 2008)

Mobile data services will be a key focus for Taiwanese telecom operators this year, with the growing popularity of 3G/3.5G mobile phones. In line with this, Taiwan's mobile phone market volume for 2008 is expected to slightly increase to 7.2 million units, with WCDMA models accounting for more than 40 percent, according to Taiwan-based Market Intelligence Center (MIC), an ICT industry research institute.

In the first quarter of this year, Taiwan's mobile phone market sales volume grew by 6.7 percent sequentially to 1.9 million, with market value reaching NT$11.2 billion ($367.5 million at $1=NT$30.50). According to MIC analyst Joyce Chen, ASP (average selling price) slipped to NT$5,882 ($192.9), mainly due to promotional activities launched by Taiwanese telecom operator Chunghwa Telecom for its three low-price, entry-level 3G models, in a bid to boost 3G subscriber numbers and stimulate replacement demand. Sony Ericsson's Z610i and K530i models, both priced under NT$5,000 ($163.9) received positive market reception, and this was also attributed to the ASP decline.

The share of WCDMA models jumped to 35.8 percent in the first quarter, up 7.8 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2007, with its market volume increasing by 181,000 units to 679,000 units. The share of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) /GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) models fell 7.4 percentage points to 60.6 percent, as many subscribers switched to WCDMA models. Regarding CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) models, only sales of the low-price, entry-level Samsung S399 and Nokia N2505 models stood out, and thus the share of CDMA models slipped 0.4 percentage point to 3.6 percent in the first quarter.

The share of Smartphone and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) phones reached 2.8 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, in the first quarter 2008. Chen says that the Nokia N73, N95, and N82 Smartphones achieved strong sales, while the PDA phone growth was derived from good market reception for the Touch series models Touch Color and Touch Dual.

Click here for more information on the report "The Taiwanese Mobile Phone Market, 2Q 2008" by MIC