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ARM Predicts Market Explosion In 2010 For Smartphones

Posted on: Saturday, 21 November 2009, 07:50 CST

Things are looking good for the smartphone chip market with the area expected to grow next year at an even faster pace than this year, according to British microchip designer ARM.

ARM's designs are in 90 percent of mobile phones, including Apple's iPhone and Nokia's new top-of-the-range N900.

Financial director Tim Score said, "Smartphones grew this year, and we are going to probably see faster growth next year."

Score said he expected smartphone market volume to grow to more than 500 million in five years from 200 million phones this year.

Carmelo Papa, chief of STMicroelectronics' industrial division, says, "There is strong momentum in smartphones."

Smartphones are capable of more than simply making and receiving calls; they often boast a web browser, an integrated music player, a camera and video recorder, and push email.

Next year falling smartphone prices are set to boost market growth as Nokia and Google push their operating systems to cheaper phones where sales volumes are higher.

Geoff Blaber, analyst at research firm CCS Insight, says, "2010 will see continued growth as manufacturers and operators seek to drive open platforms into the mass market. Android and Symbian will take smartphones into the sub-150-euros realm where feature phones have dominated to date."

Nokia introduced its first smartphone in August priced at 150 Euros (approximately 222 dollars).

By the end of this year, around 1.1 billion mobile phones will have been sold worldwide. Nokia remains the market leader, but other smartphone vendors, such as Research in Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, and Apple, which makes the iPhone, are gaining ground.

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On the Net:

• ARM
• CCS Insight

Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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