Western Europe to become world's main WCDMA market

January 23, 2006

Research and Markets has announced the addition of The Song of the Wanderer: Changes in the Worldwide Mobile Phone Industry Value-Chain to their offering.

-- Emerging market growth shifting from Eastern Europe and Latin America to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa; a new wave of ultra value-line handsets is hitting the market

-- Nokia using modularized platforms, economies of scale to obtain strong position in Europe, Asia, and Africa; Motorola expanding presence in Southeast Asia from its stronghold in Latin America through flexible ODM outsourcing and GSMA tenders; Samsung and LG rely on in-house production to establish a presence in the Latin American, Indian markets

-- Although pricing pressures in emerging markets are high, integrated chipset solutions are slimming down BOM; major brands also employ ODM outsourcing to lower prices

-- In 2006 Western Europe is expected to replace Japan as the world's main WCDMA market; Nokia, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson are leveraging their patent portfolio and device production to challenge early entrants NEC and LG; furthermore, 3G chipsets containing application processors to impact the market landscape, but high prices will limit offerings to the Smartphone and high-end feature phone segments in the short term

-- In 2006 mobile phones will see upgrade in A/V functions; mobile TV, GPS, and Wi-Fi-enabled handsets will become a focal point for makers; PDA phones are expected to remain oriented towards the high-end segment, but Smartphones might make a foray into the mid-range segment due to Nokia's aggressive rollout of its s60 models.