China mobile market to double Americas by 2007
China's mobile market to double the size of America's and set to grow by 45 million new subscribers a year according to a report by Research and Markets. Data from the "China Mobile Market 2006" statistical handbook shows that mobile ownership stands at 325 million in 2005 a penetration rate of 26% and will rise to 415 million by 2007, a penetration rate of 33%.
Chinese operators reported 374.3 million subscribers in 2005. We estimate this equates to 325.2 million owners after discounting duplicate and inactive accounts.
China has a population of over 1.2 billion inhabitants and although China boasts the largest mobile market in the world penetration is low at 26%. 80% of China's population lives in countryside and it is saturation of mobile ownership in the cities rather than reaching a 100% penetration rate that will slow or cap subscribers growth. ARPU remained steady in 2005 remaining at $10 pcm but will fall to $9.2 pcm in 2007.