In 2006, unit sales of mobile handsets around the globe increased almost 20%, and according to a study from In-Stat, double-digit growth will continue for at least the next five years.
Overall, In-Stat predicts that global penetration of handsets per population will increase from 25% to 50% by 2011.
Currently, the size of the global wireless handset market is over $144 billion, and by 2011 it will increase to $200 billion.
Growth will be driven by penetration within developing countries, the popularity of prepaid service plans and the continued rollout of higher-speed data networks.
In addition, for the first time the replacement handset rate now exceeds the new handset market.