Even though the number of mobile phones sold this year is expected to reach just 26.3 million, which would be a drop by -5.2%, BITKOM expect a change in trend next year with 26.9 million units probably to be sold. This forecast by BITKOM is based on new data provided by the EITO market research institute.
BITKOM president Prof. August-Wilhem Scheer believes that multi media devices are more and more demanded by consumers which will lead to growth of the market for so-called smart phones this year. Furthermore, the number of mobile phone connections is expected to increase even further by 5% to 113 million this year, according to BITKOM. Currently almost 90 % of all households in Germany use mobile phones.
BITKOM expect that in particular mobile data services will give new impetus to the market. Already today about two thirds of all new mobile phones are equipped with a fast UMTS internet connection. Therefore, mobile phone operators are expected to generate one quarter of their turnover through mobile data services this year.
In comparison with other mobile phone markets in the EU the German market is currently in a relatively good position, according to BITKOM. In Great Britain, which is the largest market for mobile phones in Europe, the number of units sold is expected to drop by 8% to 30.7 million phones this year, according to EITO. For 2010 market researchers expect turnover to rise again by 2.9 % to 31.6 million units sold. For Italy experts expect a drop by 7.2% to 19.6 million units this year and for France a decrease by -4.9 % to 23.1 million mobile phones sold. In the entire EU the number of mobile phones sold this year is expected to fall by 5.3% to 174 million. For next year EITO predicts this figure to grow moderately again. 