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Report: China's handset market to grow 7% in 2009

By Li Weitao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-23 10:49

 

China's mobile phone market is forecast to grow 7 percent this year, bucking a global industry downturn, said a market research report released on Friday.

US-based research firm iSuppli predicted in a report that shipment of mobile phone in China in 2009 will increase 7 percent from 2008 to 240 million units. In contrast, global handset shipment is expected to fall 5 percent.

Chinese mobile phone operators are expected to sign up 9,000 new subscribers largely because of lower fees, iSuppli said. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Thursday said the number of the country's mobile phone subscribers swelled to 641 million by the end of 2008.

The largest vendor, Nokia, is expected to hold a 37 percent market share.

The mobile phone grey market where vendors sell unlicensed phones didn't do so well in 2008, iSuppli said. Sales of such phones are estimated to have drop to 40 million units last year, compared to 50 million in 2007.