Investor’s Business Daily has an article about the future growth of GSM and third world nations. GSM has the advantage because the handsets are cheaper. Motorola and Hop-On have been courting these emerging markets with phones under $40.

The biggest cost in phones are the radio chips, either GSM or CDMA. GSM chips cost around $12 and CDMA about $20. There are many more makers of GSM phones and chips than CDMA. That helps drive down GSM costs.

The article also states that there are about 3 billion potential customers living in cell coverage areas that do not subscribe. That’s nearly three times the size of today’s market.