Manufacturer updates

Speaking at the institution of Engineering and Technology in the UK, Motorola Chairman David Brown said "it's beginning to look as if sub-$15 mobile devices might be achievable by around 2008." This appears to be possible because of chip manufacturers' commitments to supply inexpensive silicon components. Brown mentioned that a study by the London School of Economics found that a 10% increase in mobile penetration creates a 0.6% increase in GDP. He was driving his case for developing countries' governments to stop imposing luxury goods taxes on mobile devices.

A study by the GSM Association found that if ultra low cost mobile phones were exempted from import duties and sales taxes, up to up to 930 million additional ultra-low-cost mobile devices could be connected in 50 developing countries. Eventually this should happen in many countries and impressive numbers will be achieved. And quite understandably Motorola (already a champion in the ultra low cost handset category) is very interested. So is Nokia. One only wonders at the absence of Samsung in this market segment; can they "afford" to stay out of it for long?!

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