Chunghwa Telecom, the leader in the line on the island, procures about 1.8 million units of various mobile phones this year and plans to buy 10% more for a total of 2.1 million units in 2010, including 15% for smartphones. Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone will purchase 1.38 million units and 1.3 million units, respectively, next year, up 15% and 10% from this year. In total, the three companies will buy 4.72-4.88 million handsets next year, with smartphones to account for 15% or 800,000 units.

Noteworthy is that the three firms have focused more on sales of smartphones, with Chunghwa Telecom and Far EasTone both to procure around 300,000 units for promotion next year.

In the meantime, Taiwan Mobile and High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), a Taiwan-based, world-caliber smartphone developer, have also jointly announced launch of HTC HD2 smartphone, which features a 4.3-inch touch screen, the largest in the line, and is free of charge when bundled with Taiwan Mobile's telecom service.

HTC claimed that HTC HD is expected to become the most popular smartphone among models priced at US$500 and above per unit in Taiwan. At present, sales of high-end smartphones at such a price level account for 3-4%, or up to 280,000 units, of the total handset sales on the island a year.