Mobile handset haul to escalate in 2010

Worldwide mobile handset shipments are expected to increase to 1.2 billion handsets in 2010, despite the delicate state of the global economic revival, ABI Research has said.

The marketing research firm predicts that handset deliveries will rise by almost four per cent from 1.153 billion in 2009.

Global handset shipments rose 15.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2009, to an estimated 336.5 million handsets, according to ABI Research's report.

The predicted increase in mobile phone sales could possibly lead to the adoption of mobile IP telephony solutions, such as applications which emulate VoIP phones, increasing also.

Electronics company Samsung increased its mobile phone market share by 5.3 per cent over the last 18 months, in part due to its inventive smartphones.

Sony-Ericsson and HTC are both looking to smartphones to revive their fortunes in the market - the former to an Android-based range, the latter to a new line of budget smartphones.

Telecommunications company 3 UK turned on its 10,000th 3G mobile broadband site last week, making it possible for more of the UK to use mobile VoIP solutions via smartphones.