Asia may become the largest regional mobile telecommunications market in the world over the next five to ten years, reports In-Stat. In 2004, there were nearly 740 million mobile users in Asia (including Japan, Australia and New Zealand) with total revenue of roughly $180 B, the high tech market research firm says. By 2009, Asian mobile telecom revenues will reach over $260 B, according to In-Stat’s forecast. India will be the fastest growing entity in this region, with a 32.8 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in terms of subscribers and 31.1 percent by revenue, for the period from 2004 to 2009.

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

  • South Korean handset vendors like Samsung and LG are significantly gaining market share in both high end products and in developing markets.

  • In the equipment area, Sony Ericsson is still winning within the region, with its advanced technologies and R&D facilities, extensive infrastructure, great product quality and successful marketing strategies.

  • US equipment vendors like Motorola and Lucent have made significant headway in the Asian market because of their large new deployments of CDMA technology.

The report, “Asia Wireless Annual Report: Subscribers, Handsets and Infrastructure,” covers wireless services, handset and equipment markets in 13 countries that make up the Asian market. It includes forecasts for subscribers regionally and by country, as well as revenue forecast by service, ARPU forecast and wireless equipment spending through 2009. Also included are vendor market shares, by country for 2004.