Western European mobile phone shipments to grow 12% in 2005

IDC forecasts 12% market growth for Western European mobile phone shipments in 2005. The company sees significant evolution in market structure, with the converged device segment and WCDMA handsets due to continue the explosive growth witnessed in 2004. Increased consumer spending directed towards handset upgrades and new 3G services over the Christmas period in Q4 2004 pushed total year shipments towards 144 mln units, representing YTY market growth of 19%. While converged devices witnessed growth of 40% in 2004 compared to 18% for standard mobile phones, IDC indicates that devices featuring evolved operating systems still only account for approximately 4% of the total mobile phone market.