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Press Contact: Americas and Asia: Jack Quinn, (602) 231-8625, jack@mosmicro.com
Press Contact Europe: Niels Kellerhoff +49-211-467-998, Niels@mosmicro.com

2002 Cellular Handset Growth to Catapult by 19 % predicts Micrologic Research

PHOENIX and DUSSELDORF, Germany—February 19, 2002—Despite flat sales in 2001, the cellular telephone market is set for strong growth in 2002 according to a new market study from Micrologic Research. The study says  worldwide cellular sales were 387 million telephones in 2001, down slightly from 403 million in 2000, but predicts that 2002 sales will be up sharply to 462 million units. Jack Quinn, the study’s author, when reminded this forecast is about 10 percent higher than many industry estimates replied, “Those estimates are far too conservative and will make it easy for handset suppliers to do ‘better than expectations.’ Many subscribers delayed upgrading their cellular telephones in 2001 because of the poor economy, but they won’t put it off forever.”

Micrologic Research says that the number of cellular subscribers worldwide grew by 255 million in 2001 or slightly more than the 251 million subscriber additions in 2000. Subscriber growth was especially strong in Asia, where penetration rates are still low, followed by the Americas while the saturated Western European market was stagnant. Handset sales to these new subscribers were offset by a drop in the replacement market. Existing subscribers broke with the tradition of buying a new cell phone every year.

“Cellular2002” says that the underserved Asian market continues to take the lead in both cellular subscriber growth and in the deployment of advanced cellular technology. China surpassed the U.S. in 2001 to become the world’s largest market for cellular telephones; Korea now has the world’s highest-speed nationwide cellular system; and Japan began limited deployment of a third-generation W-CDMA system, also known as UMTS.

An executive summary of “Cellular2002” that includes graphs and tables from the study and full table of contents can be viewed at www.mosmicro.com. Visitors to the site can also download one of the industry's best dictionaries of communications terminology at no cost.

"Cellular2002" costs $2,895 for the first copy and $500 for additional copies in either book or CD-ROM format. To order the 388-page study, in the Americas and Asia contact Jack Quinn at 602/231-8625 or e-mail Jack@mosmicro.com. In Europe contact Niels Kellerhoff at +49-211-467-998 or e-mail him at Niels@mosmicro.com.

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