Sales of cellphones slow in China

MARKET RESEARCH FIRM Isuppli issued a report which said that great sales in 2007 by local manufacturers will be followed by a drop this year.

According to its figures, local manufacturers of mobile phones showed a growth rate of 76.2 per cent in 2007 from 2006.

But in 2008, claimed the organisation, that growth figure will drop 19.7 per cent, accounting for 274 million units.

Why?

Well, apparently 2007 was a great year in China because first time buyers bought lots of units and replacements did OK too. Huawei and ZTE doubled their export shipments. Said Kevin Wang, senior Isuppli analyst: “Domestic grey market suppliers shipped millions of handsets to developing countries.”

As for mainland China itself, Wang said the domestic market sales were around 200 million units – of that number 50 million were grey market handsets, rather an astonishing figure. µ