Retailer Says Russia's 2006 Mobile Handset Sales Up 3% on Year

MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Prime-Tass) -- Mobile handset sales in Russia rose 3% on the year to US$5.65 billion in 2006, Russia's largest mobile handset retailer Euroset said in a press release Tuesday.

In physical terms, Russia's mobile handset sales fell 14% on the year to 29.27 million units in the period, the retailer estimated.

Russia accounted for about 3% of world's total mobile handset sales, the company said.

The average price of a sold handset rose about 18% on the year to $193 in 2006, Euroset said.

About 73% of acquired handsets were purchased in order to replace an older handset, the retailer said.

Of the total number of handsets purchased in 2006, 18% were bought using consumer loans, up 3 percentage points compared with 2005, Euroset said.

The five largest mobile handset retailers in Russia - Euroset, Svyaznoi, DIXIS, Tsifrograd and Betalink - accounted for 78% of the total mobile handset sales in Russia as of late 2006, up from 56% as of early 2006, Euroset said.

In 2005, mobile handset sales in Russia rose 11% on the year to 33.5 million units worth $5.5 billion, or 28% up on the year, Euroset said earlier.

Euroset is the largest mobile handset and digital electronics retailer in the former Soviet Union, operating in 10 out of the 15 former Soviet republics.

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Posted to the site on 16th January 2007