Monday, 19th April 2004 (4178 views)

Asia's trendsetters are currently carrying mobile phones covered in gold and encrusted in precious stones.

The sparkly handsets are the latest trend among Asia's fashion crowd, with models on offer including a diamond-encrusted handset from China's TCL Mobile Communication Co Ltd and an 18-carat white gold mobile with a sapphire crystal face by Nokia unit Vertu.

Mobile phone manufacturers have refused to reveal the hot profits from their luxury units, but analysts suggest that sales could boost revenues, as demand for handsets starts to level off.

"Luxury and glamour models offer a different level of interest and engagement for consumers, which would spur them on to buy more new and beautiful phones," Ian Woodward, a consumer behaviour researcher at Australia's Griffith University, told Reuters news agency.

London-based Vertu and Finnish parent Nokia, the world's top handset maker, began developing luxury models in 1997, Vertu President Nigel Litchfield told Reuters. "As the industry became increasingly saturated in the last few years, manufacturers were compelled to discover new markets and identify upcoming trends in mobile phone consumption," he said.

Fashion phones have proved extremely popular in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and China, partly due to Asia's high cellphone replacement rate, which is every nine to 18 months compared with about two years for Europe and the United States.

Motorola Inc, the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, said its line of fashion phones enjoyed triple-digit growth rates in the first quarter of 2004 in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

 

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