Handset shipments upset Japan

According to Gartner, Japan was the only region where handset sales stopped in their growth and started falling in Q2 2005. Handset vendors shipped 10 million cell phones in Japan in Q2 2005, but compared with Q2 2004 results, it was down 600,000 handsets.

The main source of growth for the matured market of cellphones in Japan is replacement sales, but while the demand for phones with MP3 player and Internet browsing capability was strong, it was not enough to boost sales beyond the last year’s results.