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Europe is Smartphone Market Leader

Worldwide annual shipments of smartphones are expected to triple over the next five years to reach sales of 153.5 million by 2010 according to new research from Informa Telecoms & Media. Their second study found this will only form 17.4 percent of all handsets sold that year, an increase on the 7 percent share for 2005 figures.

According to Malik Saadi, the Author of the report �in Europe, low-end smartphones are already popular through devices such as the SPV and the Motorola MPX220�. Dr Saadi went on to say �High-end smartphone shipments were relatively slow on the uptake, mainly owing to the European market being viewed as one which is not heavily entrenched in PDAs, this contrasts starkly with the North American market.�

European sales of smartphones currently account for 41 percent of this market in 2005 � with 42.3 million units shipped in the year, though market share is forecast to drop to only 36 percent in 2010 (147.3 million units will be shipped), Europe will retain the lead in market share, though Asia-Pacific is expected to consolidate the second spot over the period, with expectations that it will overtake the European market sometime soon after 2010. Asia-Pacific will see its share move from 28 percent in 2005, to 31.5 percent by 2010.

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