Cellphone Sales Boom Expected to Continue

Global sales of mobile phones exceeded even the most bullish expectations in 2003, and market researchers said the handset industry would enjoy an even better 2004 as new, fancier models catch on.

Mobile phone sales to consumers topped 510 million units in 2003 and will exceed 560 million units in 2004, according to Gartner Dataquest, IDC and Strategy Analytics.

Cellphone producers are benefiting from booming emerging markets such as China, India, Brazil and Russia, where they sell relatively cheap handsets to first-time buyers, as well as from existing customers in the U.S., Europe, Japan and South Korea, who are replacing old models.