Antonio Torres, Nokia's director for business development and industry marketing, says the company is projecting its market will grow to four billion phone buyers by 2010.

Ashford Meikle, Business Reporter

BOGOTA, Colombia:

Finnish mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia is projecting 43 per cent market growth for its handsets over the next three years, saying its sales are likely to be most vibrant in emerging economies.

"There are 2.8 billion users of Nokia products worldwide and by the end of the year we are going to reach three billion," Nokia's director for business development and industry marketing, Antonio Torres, told journalists Wednesday.

"The forecast is that we are going to have four billion users by 2010," he said.

Nokia is the leading phone manufacturer in the world, con-trolling more than a third of the global market share.

Torres said that 80 per cent of the new users will come from emerging markets.

"We are getting closer and closer to connecting people. So, if we are talking about another billion users by 2010, eight hundred million will come from Latin America, India, Africa and China."

According to Nokia, Latin America is one of the fastest growing markets in the world and the phone company remains the leading brand in the region.

"Latin America is very important to Nokia and to the global mobile communications industry as a whole," said the executive.

In fact, it was an acknowledge-ment of the growing importance of Latin America and the Caribbean region why Nokia chose Bogota as the location to launch its six new products specifically aimed at emerging markets: the Nokia 1200 and 1208 aimed at first time mobile phone consumers worldwide; the 2660; the 2505 designed for entry CDMA markets in Asia and the Pacific, Middle East, Africa, China and Latin America; and the 2630 and 2760.

The new products will be available in the second and third quarter of 2007 and will retail for about €35 to €90, excluding taxes and subsidies.

Latin America has a population of about half a billion people with a per capita income of about US$4,00 there are wide variances between individual countries.

The region accounted for eight per cent - just under €3 billion - of Nokia's global sales of €34 billion in 2005. The phonemaker's presence in Latin America includes its two manufacturing plants in Mexico and Brazil with some 4,500 employees, representing seven per cent of its worldwide staff of 66,000.

The phone company attributes its market advantage in the region to its innovative phone sharing technology, contemporary design and easy-to-use features.

"As the clear market leader, Nokia works to understand the needs and aspirations of consumers," says Oliver Puech, vice-president for Export Sales, Nokia Latin America.

"We put this understanding into practice by developing products and applications that are relevant, easy to use and simple to understand, which is especially important for first time users in emerging markets around the world," he said.

ashford.meikle@gleanerjm.com