China produced nearly 226 million mobile phones in the first
five months of the year, up 33.7 percent from a year earlier,
according to statistics from the Ministry of Information
Technology.
The rising rural market is believed to be a major driver behind
the production boom, explained ministry officials.
As international giants such as Nokia and Motorola promote
low-end phones targeting farmers, local producers are trying to
catch up, according to the ministry.
China is expected to manufacture 40 percent of the one billion
mobile phones produced around the world this year, said ministry
officials.
However, the officials warned that the mobile phone industry is
still in the throes of restructuring and producers without
up-to-date technologies may be thrown out of the market.
China now has more than 80 mobile phone producers. Last year
Chinese companies produced a total of 480 million mobile phones, a
hefty rise of 58.2 percent from the previous year.
There are now about 487 million mobile phone users in China with
six million new users being added every month, according to the
Ministry of Information Industry.
(Xinhua News Agency July 16 2007)
