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Motorola and Qualcomm appear most likely to gain from demand for high-end wireless phones, particularly in China and India.
According to a report, Korean wireless-gear makers Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics indicated that they expect to sell more handsets in the June quarter than the preceding quarter, driven by U.S. and Asian demand.
LG said it was realizing higher average selling prices (ASPs) on stronger volumes for phones with third-generation (3G) technology -- perhaps at the expense of Finnish mobile-phone giant Nokia, in our opinion at Standard & Poor's.
We think this news from Korea bodes well for wireless-handset suppliers in the current quarter. We see the market benefiting from an improved replacement cycle for new color-camera handsets and strong growth in emerging markets, most notably China and India. Overall, leading handset suppliers forecast a 15% to 17% increase in unit sales in 2004 from the estimated 470 million units sold in 2003. For wireless-network spending, carriers are increasing their focus on 3G network deployments.
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