Mobile phones valued at over RM4.5 bln sold in Malaysia last year

KUALA LUMPUR: More than 7.5 million mobile phones valued at over RM4.5 billion were sold in Malaysia last year.

In a statement here yesterday, market research firm, GfK Malaysia said consumers snapped up over 24 per cent more units of mobile phones which grew the overall value of the industry by 30 per cent compared with 2009. Smartphones were the key contributors to the industry’s good performance.

Since the beginning of 2010, value sales of smartphones had been consistently increasing monthly and occupied 72 per cent of the overall pie by December.

GfK Malaysia’s general manager, Jennifer Chan said greater mobility and the need to stay connected for work and play are some of the reasons for the rising trend of smartphone ownership. Consumers are also spoilt for choice when it comes to the various operating system (OS) offered by phone makers.

In terms of contribution to overall sales, smartphones in the price range of between RM500 and RM1,499 occupied 64 per cent, with the bigger chunk of 38 per cent contributed by sales of those costing over RM1,000.

“We can expect the smartphone industry to continue its upward growth trend in the high double digits in 2011 and beyond,” said Chan. — Bernama