Taiwan Mobile expects handset procurement to increase 10-15% in 2010, says paper

Taiwan Mobile expects its purchase of handsets in 2010 to increase 10-15% from the 1.2 million units it purchased in 2009, the Chinese-language Commercial Times quoted Cliff Lai, COO of consumer business group at Taiwan Mobile as indicating.

Of the total handsets purchased in 2010, smartphones will account for 15-20%, and models coming from HTC (High Tech Computer) will make up one-third of the smartphone procurement, Lai said. Sales of smartphones accounted for 10% of Taiwan Mobile's total sales in 2009.

Taiwan Mobile and HTC jointly launched, on November 16, the Windows Mobile-based HTC HD2 smartphone in the Taiwan market amid tight supply of the model.

The launch of the HTC HD2 has met with enthusiastic responses from telecom carriers in Europe and Asia causing tight supply, according to Jack Tong, vice president of Asia Pacific at HTC. The tight shipments of the HD2 will ease in December, Tong added.