SIM sales up 28% worldwide

SIMalliance, the global association of SIM card manufacturers, has said that global SIM card shipments were up 28% last year. It says the growth - from 1.9 billion in 2006 to 2.7 billion in 2007 - was driven by emerging markets and new 3G multimedia handsets. Growth was 56% in India and 18% in Western Europe; 14% of all SIMs were 3G. The total figure is expected to hit 3 billion this year. And there's an unexpected pun; the figures were announced at the SIMalliance's "SIMposium 2008" event. [Press release]