At the same time, many vested users are trading in their bulky old cell phones for newer technology. The new phones are shrinking faster than Monica Lewinsky on her Jenny Craig diet. They have batteries that stay charged longer. The phones can ring or vibrate or light up when a call comes in.
Some phones can double as two-way radios or pagers.
Some can send and receive e-mail messages. Others can connect to the World Wide Web. It's a wide-open market that's expected to grow 30 percent to 40 percent over the next few years, according to various wireless industry analysts. That's good news for RF Micro Devices, the Greensboro company that makes the tiny gallium arsenide microchips used in many of these mobile telephones. The chips RF Micro produces can be used in a variety of wireless communications devices, such as remote keyless entry products and security devices, but chips for telephone handsets continue to be the company's focus.