It seems like mobile phones are everywhere and the numbers prove that they are! Global sales of mobile handsets passed one billion units in 2007, equivalent to every sixth person on the planet buying a handset.

This is an increase of 160 million in a year, the fastest absolute annual growth for five years.

While such growth is outstanding, it’s interesting to note which markets are growing and where sales are faltering. According to the “GfK Mobile Baromenter 2007” growth in Europe has been flat over recent years, with Africa, Asia and the Arab countries driving growth. India is now outstripping sales in Africa with over 100 million phones sold in 2007.

In Africa, the ownership of mobile handsets is reaching saturation in South Africa and Northern Africa, but other parts of Africa have yet to reach their full potential. In 2007, one fifth of all the phones sold in the world were bought in China, but the nation only has 40 percent penetration — which means that many more phones will be sold in that market.

Handset vendors will increasingly be looking to emerging markets to keep their sales high. In Europe, penetration has reached 95 percent, with total subscribers now at 800 million. Growth has slowed in many Western and Northern European countries, with countries such as Turkey — 45 percent increase in handset sales — seeing the biggest growth.

The largest markets in 2008 will be in China and India. Annual sales of handsets in China increased from 130 million to 190 million in 2007. The total subscriber base there stands at an astonishing 525 million. The year 2007 saw handset sales double in India. Penetration there is now 19 percent, with a total subscriber base of 210 million. Africa has potential.

Mobile penetration is only 27 percent, with 250 million subscribers. But due to economic factors, uptake of mobile services will continue to be delayed.

What are the numbers for Saudi Arabia? According to the Informa Telecoms & Media World Cellular Information Service, as of September 2007, in regards to GSM, the Kingdom had a penetration rate of 86.41 percent.

Etihad Etisalat had captured 7,732,700 subscribers and Saudi Telecom had 16,239,560. Most of the growth in the Kingdom will be in W-CDMA-2100 (3G) where the penetration rate was only 6.44 percent as of September 2007. In the area of 3G, Etihad Etisalat accounted for 1,580,000 subscribers and Saudi Telecom had 205,560 users.

Around the world, as the number of cellular users grows, there is an increasing quest for individuality. GfK found that on average, the top twenty global cellular products account for 30 percent of unit sales. This figure is higher in developing countries, where the global products sold tend to be lower end, cheaper products. This figure is worrisome for handset manufacturers who rely on volume to drive down costs. For example, the top 10 cellular products accounted for 25 percent of all phones sold in Europe. Just five years ago the top 10 accounted for half of the market.

The fragmentation in the handset market is fueled by technological developments that allow handsets to be created which cater to individual preferences. Across the globe, Scandinavia, the Far East and the UK set the trend for a lot of technology uptake. In terms of form factor, most phones sold in the world are block form or “candy bar,” followed by “slider” and “shell” phones. Predictably, smaller phones are becoming popular everywhere. Built in cameras are now extremely common in handsets sold in most developed countries, with nearly all phones sold in South Korea and Japan including them. Cameras with a resolution over 3 megapixels are the trend.

When it comes to music, since 2006, phones with mp3 capabilities outstripped stand alone mp3 players. But in some markets, a phone with a radio is more desirable. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa, radio-featured handsets are popular, partly due to the cost of downloading or sideloading music. And as for handsets with “TV on board,” it’s only in South Korea that there has been significant adoption of such technology.

What does the future hold? In a market such as Saudi Arabia, where there is already considerable market penetration of GSM devices, expect to see operators try to convince us to use our handsets more and not just for talk, SMS or ringtone download. Local operators are going to do almost anything to get subscribers to go 3G. That means video downloads, mobile gaming and other mobile entertainment. These are where the real profits are.

The bottom line is that improved handset technologies and increasing device usage are the means for keeping telecom operator profits healthy.

In such an environment, where content and services will be pushed in the most attractive ways, consumers must be smart and ensure that using advanced telecom services gives true value for money.