The milestone has been hit – one billion mobiles have been shipped in one calendar year.
According to IDC, vendors shipped 1.019 billion units in 2006, up 22.5 per cent on the 832.8 million units shipped in 2005. For Q4, sales hit 294.9 million units, a record shipment volume for a single quarter.As usual it was the emerging markets that drove the growth. Ramon Llamas, research analyst in IDC's mobile technology and tracking team, said: "Device shipments into emerging economies in Asia/Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America have surpassed shipments to mature markets, and the difference between the two continues to grow."
“Mobile phones are seen as both a practical necessity and a status symbol in many emerging markets. Together, these economic, technological, and social conditions will continue to drive strong demand for mobile handsets in emerging markets for some time to come."
Advertisement
