Tough time ahead for telecom sector: Deloitte report

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Tough time ahead for telecom sector: Deloitte report
Bangalore: Tough times await the telecommunications industry. The telecom sector will most likely face challenges based on the state of the global economy, reveals the 'telecommunications predictions' report for 2009 by Deloitte. Deloitte predicts that although the financial pressures felt by the operators and their customers will actually speed up the industry transformation that has been under way over the last several years, the year 2009 is likely to be tougher than recent years for smart phones. Mobile television and services are also likely to slow down or even be closed, since major sporting events which can be a catalyst for the adoption of new media formats, largely failed to launch mobile television. According to the report, during 2008, smart phone sales increased by almost 35 percent, while the market as a whole grew 10 percent. However, a continued economic downturn during 2009 may pummel the fortunes of smart phones. While sales growth for all mobile phones may decline to around 4 percent, smart phone growth could fall by more than 15 percent points, to under 20 percent. Smart phones market share may increase by no more than 2 percent points. It is suggested that, mobile component manufacturers should look at ways of reducing their costs. Also the current year may see a new range of mobile phones, which are expected to overcome the convergence compromise. In the mobile market, the objective of convergence has not always been attained due to compromise on quality. For instance, mobile phone MP3 players have often suffered from compromised user interfaces and poor quality sound compared to their standalone peers. Hence, the demand for mobile phone converged with games-playing capability has remained niche. However, by the end of this year, sales of mobile camera phones may exceed those of dedicated digital cameras, while sales of music phones could be trebled. Lower handset subsidies may mean fewer high-end phones capable of supporting mobile television coming into the market.