We Love Multimedia-Minded Cell Phone Accessories

If you thought the cell phone business was huge, you have a serious look at the accessory market. It turns out that of the $32 billion the handset accessory market is expected to generate in revenue for 2007, more than half come from accessories that support multimedia features in these phones. That’s right, the most lucrative cell phone accessories aren’t blinged-out faceplates and leather pouches; it’s all about music, pictures and videos.

They say that the bulk of this revenue comes from products like headsets (Bluetooth or otherwise), memory cards (so that you can stash all that music on the go), and data connection kits (so that you can freely transfer content between your phone and your computer). According to analyst Shailendra Pandy, “Expanding multimedia features in handsets are the most important factor contributing to the growth of the mobile phone accessories market.”

It’s interesting that accessories like headsets are outselling “necessary” accessories like batteries and chargers. In fact, earphones and data connection kits are increasingly being included as part of a retail cell phone package.