Asia mobile phones sales tipped to exceed 400 million in 2008: Report

SINGAPORE:
Mobile telephone gross sales in the Asia Pacific Ocean part excluding Japanese Islands is expected to
grow an yearly 10 percentage to more than than 400 million units of measurement in 2008, fuelled by
China and India, an industry study said on Wednesday.

Mobile
phone gross sales in 2007 totalled 366 million units, IDC said in a report.

China
and India, which together accounted for over 60 per cent of regional demand,
still offer much room for growing despite the immense leap in mobile telephone users, it
said.

The
mobile incursion charge per unit in People'S Republic Of China and India, at 40 per cent and 20 per cent
respectively, demoes there is plenty of range for expansion, the research firm
said.

"The
twin engines of this growing are Republic Of India and the PRC, which together commanded more
than 60 per cent of cargoes in the region," said IDC analyst Aloysius Choong.

He
said mobile telephone gross sales in Republic Of India should turn by 19 per cent this year. On the
vendor side, Finnish telecom giant Nokia remained the dominant leader with
market share of over 50 per cent last year, up from 42 per cent in 2006, said
IDC.

Trailing
in 2nd topographic point was South Korea's Samsung with 12.1 percent, followed by
Motorola at 8.3 per cent, Sony Ericsson 6.9 per cent and LG took 4th spot
with 5.2 per cent.

"Nokia is poised for
continued success in the market, thanks to its strong brand, wide portfolio and
uncompromising execution," said Genus Melissa Chau, IDC's associate marketplace analyst for
personal systems research.