Samsung Electronics Raises Global Handset Forecast a 2nd Time
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's third-biggest maker of mobile phones, raised its forecast for 2004 industry wide handset sales for the second time this month, citing rising consumer demand for new models.
Samsung and its rivals may sell 600 million phones this year, said Lee Ki-Tae, president of the company's telecommunication network unit. The Suwon, South Korea-based company earlier this month forecast global sales of 560 million to 570 million phones.
``We see demand for mobile handsets rising globally as the economy improves,'' Lee said in an interview at the Boao Forum for Asia conference on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.
As consumers replace their phones with newer models sporting color screens and cameras, researchers are revising their industry projections. Global phone sales will increase 12 percent this year to 580 million units, researcher Gartner Inc. said in March, raising its earlier projection of 560 million.
Samsung Electronics earlier predicted it would sell about 65 million handsets globally this year. The company sold about 55 million handsets last year, or about 10 percent of total global handset sales. Its market share in China, the world's largest mobile-phone market by users, may rise to 10 percent from 9 percent in 2003, Lee said.
China added 8 million subscribers last month, according to an announcement last week by the Ministry of Information Industry.. The nation had 290.3 million cell-phone accounts by the end of March, the government said.
Samsung's first-quarter profit tripled to a record 3.1 trillion won ($2.7 billion) as sales of handsets, chips and flat- panel screens surged.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Wing-Gar Cheng in Boao, Hainan, or wgcheng@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor on this story:
Sue Hill at shill6@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 25, 2004 03:20 EDT
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's third-biggest maker of mobile phones, raised its forecast for 2004 industry wide handset sales for the second time this month, citing rising consumer demand for new models.
Samsung and its rivals may sell 600 million phones this year, said Lee Ki-Tae, president of the company's telecommunication network unit. The Suwon, South Korea-based company earlier this month forecast global sales of 560 million to 570 million phones.
``We see demand for mobile handsets rising globally as the economy improves,'' Lee said in an interview at the Boao Forum for Asia conference on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.
As consumers replace their phones with newer models sporting color screens and cameras, researchers are revising their industry projections. Global phone sales will increase 12 percent this year to 580 million units, researcher Gartner Inc. said in March, raising its earlier projection of 560 million.
Samsung Electronics earlier predicted it would sell about 65 million handsets globally this year. The company sold about 55 million handsets last year, or about 10 percent of total global handset sales. Its market share in China, the world's largest mobile-phone market by users, may rise to 10 percent from 9 percent in 2003, Lee said.
China added 8 million subscribers last month, according to an announcement last week by the Ministry of Information Industry.. The nation had 290.3 million cell-phone accounts by the end of March, the government said.
Samsung's first-quarter profit tripled to a record 3.1 trillion won ($2.7 billion) as sales of handsets, chips and flat- panel screens surged.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Wing-Gar Cheng in Boao, Hainan, or wgcheng@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor on this story:
Sue Hill at shill6@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 25, 2004 03:20 EDT