Consumer demand for environmentally sustainable mobile devices will be the primary driver behind the growth of green handsets, which could see global shipments grow to 485 million units by 2014.
Even with an incremental attitude shift by consumers, numbers will still grow from a quarter of million shipments in 2009 to over 105 million by 2014.
 
The average mobile user is responsible for around 25kg of CO2 emissions per year, a collective total of 93Mt (Megatonnes) of CO2 globally at the end of 2008. With a number of challenges facing vendors and operators, such as the Kyoto Protocol, a concerted effort is required by companies across the industry to reduce these average emissions by a far greater extent over the next five years.

The opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions amongst mobile handsets and handset users, both directly in terms of handsets & chargers and indirectly through green mobile applications.

Key questions:

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  How many green applications will consumers download over the next five years?
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  What factors will determine the success of green handsets?
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  What is the environmental impact from handset charger no-load energy emissions?
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  What are the prospects for solar powered handsets and chargers?
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  What are the key measures that vendors and operators can take to develop environmentally sustainable business practices?
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  To what extent have handset recycling programs been deployed, and how are these likely to be developed in the medium term?