IDC projects that mobile phone handset shipments in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) will reach 400 million units in 2008.

This will represent a 10% increase over 2007, when 366 million mobile phones were shipped to the region.

"The twin engines of this growth are India and China, which together commanded more than 60% of shipments in the region," said Aloysius Choong, research manager at IDC.

The Indian market is expected to be particularly robust, growing by 19% in 2008.

In 2007, Indian mobile penetration was about 20% while in China it was 40%, revealing that there is still a lot of room for growth.