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Increasingly leading handset Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) are relying on contract manufacturers such as Flextronics, Celestica and Taiwan's HTC to assemble their products, as well as Original Design Manufacturers (ODM) such as Cellon for design.

Contract manufacturers produced over a third of mobile phones in 2003, and this is forecast to rise to 51 percent of all handsets by 2009. The shifting of work to low-cost regions will continue. Taiwan and to a lesser extent South Korea will continue to lead the ODM market, while China will remain the world's manufacturing centre and powerhouse, accounting for 74 percent of all mobile phones made in 2009. How will you and your company be effected by this? Are you putting arrangments in place for this now? You should be.

The major drivers pushing 'traditional' vendors to outsource include continuous market pressures to cut costs, shorten time-to-market, enhance asset utilisation and master the complexity of process technologies. Outsourcing enables OEMs to focus on their core competencies, which include R and D, sales and marketing. In essence, vendors such as Sony Ericsson for example, which has embraced the outsourcing model to a greater degree than any other OEM, have, in effect, become pure branding machines.

Mobile Handset Outsourcing: Market analysis and forecasts 2004-2009 shows that the development of outsourcing and (handset) branding are a sign that the mobile industry has reached maturity. These twin forces are changing the face of the mobile value chain, as well as the dynamics taking place between mobile operators, handset vendors and players that a decade ago either did not exist or were not involved in the industry. The rise of the ODM model is opening up the mobile phone sector to more players, and the door is opening for strong third-party brands such as Nike, Disney and Gucci.

Key findings of Mobile Handset Outsourcing: Market analysis and forecasts 2004-2009 include:
- Falling technology barriers are encouraging more companies to enter the own-brand handset space
- New entrants are set to further fragment the marketplace and chip away the share of the leading OEMs
- ODMs and EMS firms are seeking to develop their own-brand handset business
- Local Chinese handset makers have thrived on the back of relationships with Taiwanese and South Korean ODMs

The report will conclude by discussing the future of outsourcing, offering risks, recommendations, issues to be resolved and market forecasts.

This 180+ page report examines the market for outsourcing and contract manufacturing in the mobile industry, with a particular emphasis on handset design and production. It looks at the current state of the market and the changing relationship dynamics between mobile operators, OEMs, ODMs and contract manufacturers, as well as which handset models are outsourced to whom. Manufacturing hubs in China and supply chain logistics from that country are also detailed.

Mobile Handset Outsourcing: Market analysis and forecasts 2004-2009 analyses the major players within the marketplace and their manufacturing capacity, expansion plans and strategy in this field. In addition, key trends that will affect the market's development throughout the forecast period are looked at.