Mobile makers' sales forecasts too low, researchers say
San Francisco Ð Two market-research firms said worldwide mobile-phone unit sales will rise as much as 21 percent this year, countering some recent forecasts from handset makers predicting a smaller increase or a decline.
Gartner's Dataquest unit, based in San Jose, California, said phone makers are on pace to sell as many as 500 million handsets. ARC Group of Shalford, England, forecast sales of 491 million units.
That's generally higher than predictions last month from the top three mobile-phone makers. Nokia, the largest, forecast sales of 450 million to 500 million units; Motorola, the second largest, put it at 425 million to 475 million; and third ranked Siemens said sales will be "closer to 400 million" than 450 million.
"They basically don't want to get hung out to dry again," Gartner Dataquest analyst Bryan Prohm said of the lower forecasts from the phone producers.
Nokia shares have dropped 34 percent this year and Motorola's have fallen 30 percent as the companies reduced sales targets.
Prohm said the likelihood of unit sales reaching his 500 million target depend on whether Nokia, with 35 percent of the market, is able to make enough phones to meet demand. Other possibly limiting factors include the health of economies and the ability of wireless operators to add new subscribers, he said.
ARC Group cited unspecified recent information on new phone users, subscribers who switch services, and new handsets for Internet access as reasons for the researcher's relatively optimistic forecast.
Gartner also said Nokia increased its market share to 35.3 percent in the first quarter from 33.9 percent in the previous period, while Siemens, with an unchanged share of 6.9 percent, vaulted into the third place slot past the sliding Ericsson, confirming figures released last month.
bday.net |
