First forecast for '07 from a major handset manufacturer?
biz.yahoo.com
Samsung sees 2007 global handset market up 10 pct
Tuesday November 7, 3:22 am ET
By Rhee So-eui
SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (KSE:005930.KS - News), the world's third-largest mobile phone maker, expects the global handset market to grow 10 percent next year as analysts expect China and India to lead the expansion.
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Samsung also raised its forecast for 2006 to 970 million from 950 million, Lee Ki-tae, president of Samsung's telecommunication network business, said on the sidelines of a news conference on Tuesday.
"Global handset sales are now expected at 970 million, thanks to the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) market," Lee said when asked by Reuters about the latest sales forecast. Samsung previously forecast 950 million units of 2006 shipments.
"Next year, it could reach 1.07 billion," Lee said, without elaborating. The forecast indicates the market growth would halve in 2007 from about 20 percent growth estimated for this year.
Lee's comments came after Citigroup raised its forecast for 2006 global mobile phone shipments by 1 percent to 968 million units, citing stronger-than-expected growth in Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
Citigroup also predicted that shipments would reach 1.04 billion units in 2007, with the Asian handset market continuing to grow at a fast pace.
Shipment growth in China could accelerate next year once next-generation mobile service begins there, it said. India could show the best unit growth globally on subscription growth and handset replacements.
Samsung, which trails Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - News), is trying to regain market share with additional stylish slim phones, as well as advanced mobile devices featuring new technologies such as high-speed wireless Internet.
In Tuesday's news conference, Samsung introduced a new PDA-based device capable of voice and multimedia communication through wireless broadband service.
Samsung's market share has been stagnant this year while rivals cashed in on ultra-thin phones in advanced markets or cheap models in emerging markets.
Samsung sold record 30.7 million mobile phones in the third quarter thanks to strong sales of a new series of slim phones, but its market share stood at 12 percent, a tad higher from 11.2 percent in the previous quarter but lower than 12.8 percent from a year earlier, according to Strategy Analytics. |
