Ultra-low cost phones to boost 3G networks

In its latest report, Visiongain says that current users of ULCH appear to form only about 0.8 per cent of mobile subscribers worldwide.

However, it also observes that "chipset vendors like TI, Infineon and Qualcomm are reducing the prices of their chips to provide mass-market entry level devices."

Visiongain's research has established that in 2007 the bill of materials for ULCHs has dropped to $16, but with further R&D activity the BoM is set to fall further.

Currently Motorola and Nokia dominate the ULCH market, but with Chinese and Indian manufacturers moving into the market, this could change radically.

The report also says that by 2009, vendors will become truly competitive on the price of W-CDMA/3G handsets thanks to ULCH designs.

This could have a double-whammy effect. ULCH 3G phones might have been envisaged as a way of getting the internet to territories where there's very little fixed line internet.

But what happens when those same handsets feed into mature mobile markets such as in Europe and Asia? 3G based services could start to compete in ways not yet practical at present. µ

L'INQ
There ain't no link. Visiongain.com appears to be cut off right now