Taiwan-based manufacturers will be making more than a quarter of all mobile
phones within two years, analysts predict.
The number of handsets rolling off production lines in Taiwanese-owned
factories, many of them situated in China, will reach 281 million by 2008,
according to new forecasts from
ABI
Research.
As well as manufacturing the phones, Taiwanese firms are taking over an
ever-growing percentage of the design burden from brand-name phone vendors, a
role referred to as Original Design Manufacturer (ODM).
"Taiwan's ODMs gain cost advantages by setting up plants in mainland China,
and their leading role in supplying handset components is helping to improve
their cost structure and complete their supply chain," said ABI Research analyst
Junmei He.
"Handset shipments from Taiwan will reach 281 million in 2008, 79 per cent of
which will be ODM handsets, and these shipments will account for 26 per cent of
total handset shipments globally."
The share of the global market held by Taiwanese firms such as
BenQ,
Compal
Communications and
Arima has
doubled since 2004, when they produced 70 million handsets and accounted for 12
per cent of worldwide unit sales.
The country's phone makers are now generating more than $2bn a quarter from
sales, according to recent data from the
Market
Intelligence Center, a publicly-funded Taiwanese technology think-tank.
Do you agree?
Have your say on this article