Chinese Mobile Phone Sales Surge 40%

Sales of mobiles phones in China rose by 40%, to 120 million handsets reported the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, citing the deputy chief of the China Mobile Communications Association Xie Linzhen.

Xie also stated that sales are expected to rise further this year, to 150 million handsets. China manufactured some 450 million handsets last year, with 350 million being exported.

According to the Ministry of Information, foreign handset vendors such as Nokia and Motorola hold the lion's share of the market, while local mobile phone makers sold only 50 million handsets to domestic and overseas markets.

"Chinese phone users on average buy new mobile phones every 21 months," Xie said."

Posted to the site on 5th February 2007