Tags: Brazil, Latin America, Mexico, pyr.com, Pyramid Research

Brazil and Mexico will represent the largest opportunities in the Latin American mobile market, with a combined CAGR of 7% over the next five years. Together they will account for half of all sales in the region, says Pyramid Research in its report Handsets Get a Latin Beat: Mobile Users in Latin America Turn to Music, Cameras and 3G.

“Brazil and Mexico represent a significant proportion of the region’s mobile subscribers, accounting for 49% of the total,” comments Omar Salvador, Senior Analyst at Pyramid and author of the report.

Pyramid Research expects Brazil’s share of the region’s subscriptions to gain two percentage points. Peru will also make impressive gains, surpassing Chile in terms of overall subscriber numbers to take the number six spot in the region. Venezuela has overtaken Argentina to assume the third spot in the region. At the same time, the report found that mature markets such as Argentina, Chile and Colombia that have penetration rates above 75% — more than 10% higher than the regional average — will become smaller slices of the growing Latin American pie.

Latin America’s handset market is undergoing a transformation, with users upgrading from voice-only phones to phones with music and camera capabilities. The music category quadrupled handset sales since 2005, representing 17% of total handset sold in the region in 2007. Sony Ericsson and Nokia are the most active and successful in this segment, while other manufacturers are adjusting their portfolios to compete more effectively. Pyramid expects the music-enabled category to almost triple in size, from 40m handsets sold in 2008 to 115m in 2012, when it will account for 58% of total handsets sales.

If you would like to contact Omar Salvador about this research, please email him at osalvador {at} pyr(.)com. Download the report excerpt for Handsets Get a Latin Beat for a table of contents, a table of exhibits and a brief summary of the report.

About Pyramid Research

For over 20 years, Pyramid Research has helped companies in the converging communications, media and technology industries stay ahead of market trends, understand competitive threats and capitalize on opportunities. We advise most of the world’s leading vendors, service providers, equipment manufacturers and financial institutions on how to build offensive strategies and drive profitability.

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jbaker {at} pyr(.)com