SHANGHAI — China's cell phone chip market will hit $11.4 billion this year and $14.3 billion in 2008, driven by increasing demand for smart phones and 3G handsets.
Last year, the domestic cell phone chip market grew to $8.5 billion, up 50.4 percent, the fastest increase since 2001, according to CCID, government-backed research firm. CCID estimates 28.3 percent growth this year and 26.5 percent in 2008.
The gains come as more and more cell phones are made in China and also as the market here continues its expansion. The local market already exceeds 400 million subscribers.
In recent days, Chinese telecom providers have also begun touting their gains in local and global markets. Huawei Technologies said it won 28 wideband-CDMA/HSPA contracts in 2006 and has a total of 47 contracts to date. ZTE Corp., the country's second largest telco gear maker, claims to have won 41 percent of the orders for CDMA networks worldwide in 2006.
Huawei also claims it has 68 percent of the CDMA wireless local loop global market and 65 percent of CDMA450. Last year, the company said it staked out 21 percent of the global market for GSM wireless networks, putting it in the top three, behind Ericsson and Nokia/Siemens.
Huawei and ZTE mostly operate in second and third-tier markets, such as Latin America and Africa. But they have also gained some acceptance in Europe and North America.
