Shares in mobile phone makers including Nokia, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics slipped today on worries about their ability to compete with Apple Computer's new iPhone.
But handset component makers such as Taiwan's Catcher Technology, as well as some telecom operators such as Japan's Softbank, gained on hopes the iPhone would replicate the runaway success of Apple's iPod.
Flash memory chip makers like Japan's Toshiba and South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor may end up benefiting should the iPhone capture the hearts of consumers when it goes on sale in the United States in June.
Shares in Nokia, the world's top handset maker, fell 2.2 per cent to €14.63 euros at 9.35am, while Sweden's Ericsson was down 1.4 per cent.
Shares in chipmaker Infineon rose to a 2-1/2 year high but the company declined to comment on whether it would supply chips for the Apple phone. The stock pared gains to trade up 0.6 per cent at €11.01.
Shares of mobile phone makers in Asia fell, with LG Electronics dropping 2.7 per cent, its biggest one-day fall since October 18th, compared with a 1.4 per cent decline in the South Korean benchmark KOSPI.