Mobile Phone Bonanza

BusinessWeek writes that the global mobile handset continues to soar even after a record 2005, "when sales soared 21%, to more than 800 million handsets." With Q1 results starting to come in, manufacturers and analysts alike are starting to forecast an even brighter picture due to booming demand in emerging markets suchas China and India. In addition to increased sales, handset manufacturers are also seeing higher average selling prices.

Carolina Milanesi at Gartner said, "There's no doubt that in mature markets, sales of more enhanced phones and new 3G models are increasing. Even in emerging markets, you see people looking to replace their first phone with something a bit more sophisticated."

Handset manufacturers are rolling out new feature rich phones to take advantage of the situation and it seems to be paying off according to Richard Windsor at Nomura Securities. JP Morgan analyst Ehud A. Gelblum estimated Motorola's "average selling prices were up 2.9% in the first quarter, to $143, thanks to a continued shift to more expensive models such as the RAZR."

Neil Mawston at Strategy Analytics said, "Competition is just so relentless that the long term-trend still points down," due to the huge demand for low-end models.

The article looks at the current fortunes of the top players as they try to ride the wave...profitably.