Study Finds Increasingly Mature Mobile Market

InformationWeek reports that the mobile handset market is continuing to grow, albeit at a much slower rate according to In-Stat. The article cites figures that forecast "shipments in 2005 will reach nearly 720 million (edited: typo on InfoWeek article), representing a 5.8 percent increase over 2004."

Allyn Hall at In-Stat said slower growth "is the result of some markets being at, or near, full penetration, combined with weaker-than-expected growth in some emerging ones. It's a sign of a maturing market."

As markets mature, the widespread deployment of 3G technology is being seen as an industry savior. "The 3G market has yet to materialize, even though some people were predicting its advent as long ago as 1999. But significant deployment is now beginning to occur, and the availability of good 3G handsets will be the major mobile-phone driver over the next years," In-Stat analyst David Chamberlain said.