20-dollar mobile phones to arrive in 2007

20-dollar mobile phones to arrive in 2007

Mobile chip manufacturers have claimed that the lower segment of the mobile phones would get much cheaper in the coming times. Mobile phones costing USD 20 can become a reality by 2007 if we are to believe the claims. However, they are even planning to go lower with some models touching a low of USD 10 per unit.

However, most popular mobile makers would not like to make these phones are use of cheap parts would hurt their brand image. Therefore, users might have to settle for brands, which are not so famous in the market. Horst Pratsch, vice president for Entry Platforms at German chipmaker Infineon said in a statement: “Low quality is not an option, but accepting fewer features is.”

However, these low cost mobile phones have become a targeted market for makers like Nokia and Philips, which are aiming to get a larger share in the developing markets like certain African and Asian countries. Motorola is also aiming for these consumers with some products costing as low as USD 50 right now.

Most of these mobile chip makers are planning to cut the costs of manufacturing a mobile phone by integrating as many parts of the circuit on a single chip which could cost as little as USD 5 in the coming years. This is crucial for the overall costing of the mobile phone as it helps the manufacturer to limit the number of components being included in a mobile phone unit.