Semico Releases Cell Phone Forecast

Silicon Strategies:
Mark LaPedus
Phoenix, AZ September 9, 2004

http://www.siliconstrategies.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=471...

The cellular phone market is projected to peak this year, as growth will de-accelerate over the next several years, according to an analyst at Semico Research Corp. here.

The cellular phone market is projected to "peak" and hit 610 million in terms of unit shipments in 2004, up 27 percent over 2003, said Jim Handy, an analyst at the Phoenix-based research firm, during a presentation on Thursday (Sept. 9).

Unit shipments are expected to grow by 8 percent in 2005, 18 percent in 2006, 15 percent in 2007, and 8 percent in 2008, he said. Unit shipments are projected to reach 960 million units in 2008.

While the growth is slowing to a degree, camera and smart phones remain hot. Camera phone shipments are projected to grow from 176 million units in 2004, to 628 million by 2008.

Smart phones, which support advanced functions such as streaming video, are projected to grow from 32 million units in 2004, to 150 million units by 2008.