FMC, dual-mode phones still a hot market

Despite lagging consumer confidence and gloomy macroeconomic news, the FMC sector continues to display robust growth. Dual-mode and FMC phone sales climbed 16 percent to $7.6 billion in the second quarter of 2008, and worldwide seamless FMC subscribers ballooned from 1.7 million in 2007 to 9.7 million in 2008, according to Infonetics Research's "FMC Equipment, Phones, and Subscribers" report.

Stephane Teral, principal analyst at Infonetics Research and co-author of the report, said the economic downturn might fuel increased growth in the sector, as companies look for the most cost-effective solution for their communications needs.

The report also found that Nokia is far-and-away the worldwide leader in the dual mode cellular/WiFi phone market, followed by Samsung, which the report says "has been consistently ramping up sales." Ericsson leads the worldwide UMA network controller market, followed by Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent, according to the report. 

For more:
- see the release about the Infonetics report 

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