China's handset output to hit 600 mln in 2009 - MIIT
Beijing. November 27. INTERFAX-CHINA - The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) predicts that China will produce 600 million mobile handsets in 2009, up by over 7 percent year-on-year, an MIIT official announced on Nov. 26.
Zhao Bo, vice director of MIIT's electronics and information department, said at the 2009 China Mobile Phone Industry Leaders Forum that handset manufacturing and sales have been negatively impacted by the financial crisis since the third quarter of 2008, but that conditions have improved since January.
According to Zhao, monthly handset output hit over 60 million units in both September and October. As of the end of October, 490 million handsets were produced in China, up 1.1 percent year-on-year. Despite signs of a recovery, Zhao said that mobile phone export figures will decline on an annual basis.
China's mobile industry relies heavily on foreign investment and exports. As foreign firms generate approximately 75 percent of the total industry revenue, the industry is susceptible to the international economic climate.
-CG