18 million cell phones sold in India in 2003

Chennai: 18 million cell phones were sold in India in 2003. According to a report by Gartner, sales in the emerging markets — China, India, Russia and Brazil, continued to surpass expectations, mainly due to the availability of low-priced handsets, and also aggressive strategies by service providers to win subscribers. The report also predicts that the emerging markets will play an increasingly important role in 2004 and expects cell phone manufacturers to develop low cost instruments for these markets.

According to Gartner's early estimates, the worldwide mobile handset market, too, continued to beat expectations and could exceed 510 million units in 2003. The estimate is based on manufacturers' shipments in the fourth quarter of 2003.

"2003 was a phenomenal year for the mobile phone industry, with an average growth rate of nearly 20 percent," said Ben Wood, principal analyst with the mobile communications group for Gartner in Europe.

Gartner said sales exceeded expectations around the world. The mature markets, including the United States, Western Europe and Japan, saw a surge in replacement sales. In Japan, wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) and CDMA2000 phones sold particularly well, especially those featuring built-in cameras.

"In mature markets, replacement sales were the strongest driver of growth in 2003", said Wood. "Colour screens and camera phones were high on consumers' shopping lists, but there was also a high level of demand for inexpensive voice centric handsets."

The Gartner study also revealed that early indicators during the first quarter of 2004 show that the positive trend in the mobile handset market is continuing. Based on preliminary forecasts, Gartner said it was provisionally raising its forecast for mobile phone sales to 560 million in 2004.