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GSM Still Growing at the Expense of CDMA

A recent report published by Dell'Oro Group revealed that although GSM was not the largest contributor to the growth of the total mobility infrastructure market during the first quarter of 2008, it grew nearly 10 percent over the year ago quarter.

Driving the growth of the GSM market was the second largest number ever of base station shipments, exceeded only by the previous quarter, and the stabilization of equipment prices.

"For the first time, Asia Pacific represented over half of all GSM revenue," stated Scott Siegler, Analyst of Mobility Infrastructure research at Dell'Oro Group.

"Business in this highly price-sensitive region has resulted in double-digit quarter to quarter price reductions for the previous three quarters. Over these past several quarters, ASP's were pushed downward as vendors sold equipment at exceptionally steep discounts in order to establish and expand their footprint in the region."

This quarter, in contrast, vendors became more selective in the deals they were accepting, balancing the economics of the sale with their gain in market share. "For the first time in four quarters we have seen ASP's begin to stabilize," Siegler continued.

The report also shows that the strong growth in GSM revenue offset the declines in the CDMA market which took a notable plunge during the first quarter.

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