US : After a year of strong growth beyond 460 million units, the worldwide mobile phone market will continue to expand in 2004, surpassing 500 million units for the first time in history. According to a new forecast from IDC, handset sales will enjoy 8% year-over-year growth in 2004 as shipments of 2.5G and 3G mobile phones accelerate worldwide.

"After years of 3G promises, the pieces - the handsets, the features and applications, the bandwidth, and the networks - are starting to come together to make next generation wireless a reality," said Alex Slawsby, analyst in IDC's Mobile Devices program. "Mobile phones are already an important part of everyday life in many cultures as users have embraced the technology and embedded it into their lifestyle. Enticed by new form factors, expanded features and capabilities, and falling prices, consumers are poised to begin a prolonged replacement cycle by upgrading to next-generation phones. This, combined with new demand from emerging markets, will sustain handset growth for much of the forecast period."

As the number of mobile phone users approaches 1.4 billion individuals worldwide in 2004, IDC expects 42% year-over-year growth in the 2.5G market as vendors ship more than 241 million units. Meanwhile, shipments of 3G mobile phones will surpass 48 million units in 2004, representing 140% growth over 2003. One of the features driving this growth is the emergence of "cameraphones" that incorporate digital image capture technology within the device. This segment will grow 64% in 2004, to nearly 100 million
units. Similarly, IDC expects nearly 30 million converged mobile devices, or "smartphones," will be sold in 2004, representing growth of 111%.

IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Forecast and Analysis Report, 2003 - 2007 (IDC #30068) forecasts the worldwide mobile phone market by region, technology, generation, operating system, and subscribers to 2007. Reviewing the key decisions of top mobile phone manufacturers in 2003, the report delivers in-depth analysis on the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities for the world's top mobile phone manufacturers through 2004 and beyond. The report also provides insight on vendor and platform market share and average selling prices as well as short-term and long-term macroeconomic and IT spending conditions by region.