According to comments made by IC distributors, sales of white-box handsets in China are expected to increase this month, as the government has been less restrictive than it was in the second quarter.
The distributors say that the main reason white-box handset sales were disappointing in the second quarter was due to a crackdown by the China government on the sale of unlicensed handsets. The distributors also noted that the government was concerned about overloading the nation's wireless phone service infrastructure during the Olympic Games, so telecom companies were encouraged to hold off from adding too many new subscribers.
With the restrictions easing recently, white-box handset manufactures should start to seek orders from upstream distributors, which will help sales increase this month, the sources noted.
However, IC distributors pointed out that they will need to wait until after the Olympics are over to see how back-to-school demand shakes out before they can predict whether growth can be sustained.
Article translated by Meiling Chen
