BEIJING—China’s People’s Daily newspaper predicted that local mobile-phone producers will see more mergers and acquisitions this year.
Langchao Qilu Software recently acquired 46 percent of joint venture mobile-phone vendor Langchao LG, following Legend taking a 60-percent stake in a handset joint venture with Xoceco.
The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said the country’s more than 30 mobile-phone manufacturers are more than the market can bear and will inevitably lead to more mergers and acquisitions.
An official with MII, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the paper that “too many small vendors mean domestic products will not have the ability to compete with leading international brands.” The ministry is actively promoting the formation of a few large domestic handset manufacturers.
Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson and Siemens still command about 80 percent of China’s handset market.
