New Delhi, June 19

Phenomenal growth in cellular subscriber base in the country is proving to be a windfall for handset manufacturers.

According to IDC’s Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Q1 2008, June 2008 release, close to 85 million mobile phones were shipped in India between April 2007 and March 2008, compared to just under 66 million units shipped over the corresponding period a year ago.

This is a record and amounts to a year-on-year growth of around 29 per cent in terms of units. The number of mobile subscribers grew by 67 million during the period.

Shipments in January, February, March 2008 stood at more than 22 million handsets, which amounts to around 10,000 mobile phones being shipped every hour during the quarter. In the same quarter a year ago, just under 18 million mobile phones were shipped.

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