Price war may threaten handset margins

Consumers who do not yet have a mobile phone can benefit this Christmas from a range of ultra-low prices, but investors are wondering what a price war would do to profit margins in the battered handset industry. Handset prices have come down sharply in the last 12 months, according to many industry sources and analysts. Mobile telecoms carriers, which sell around 80 percent of all handsets to end-users, can now buy entry-level cellphones for between EUR 60 – 70 euros, compared with EUR 95 last year.