Japanese Cellphone Sales up 16% YoY

Global sales of mobile phones in the first quarter of 2007 reached 257.4 million units, a 14 percent increase from the same period last year, according to Gartner. The growth was bolstered by strong demand from key countries in Asia/Pacific, such as China, as well as Japan. Western Europe and North America registered the expected slow down after strong Christmas sales and saw only moderate growth over the same period in 2006.

In Japan, sales to end users in the first quarter of 2007 were 14.7 million units, an increase of 16.6 percent from the first quarter of 2006 and an increase of 12.7 percent from the fourth quarter last year. “Generally the first quarter is the strongest quarter in Japan, as the school year ends in March and operators run extensive promotions,” said Nahoko Mitsuyama, principal analyst for mobile communications research at Gartner, based in Tokyo. “This quarter was no exception and 41 new models were introduced during the quarter.” Continue>>