There are now 5 billion cell phones in the world. About everybody has one, even my 7 year old thinks its a good idea for him to have one. 5 billion cell phones in a world of 7 billion people; the adoption rate seems amazing. Now that 3G (3G is 3rd generation and allows the user access the Internet) has just come on in China and is coming soon in India there is going to be an astounding amount smartphones sold. The one I own it made by HTC. HTC also makes the Microsoft Windows based phone. I tried to buy shares of HTC that are listed on the Taiwan exchange. Well for some reason a transaction on the Taiwan exchange for Americans is near impossible to do so I had to pass on buying shares. Sure there is going to be a bunch of competitors making smartphones in the future. Not too far down the road the margins will go to near zero. On the other hand since HTC has some of the most popular phones and their supply chain is up and running figured there would be about a 6 month window for HTC to make a killing.
We will watch the fireworks from the sidelines. Below is a link to the stock chart of HTC on the Taiwan exchange.