The latest research done on the mobile phone industry shows that China is now ahead of the USA as the world's largest mobile phone market. In fact, it was recently reported by the Ministry of information that one in every four Chinese had a mobile phone at the end of 2004. A decade ago, only business people had mobile phones and they were large and heavy with bad reception. They were also expensive. Compared to those, what we see now are new phones with superb reception, which are light and small to carry. Perhaps it was this improved technology and smart look that helped mobile phones break into the mass market, but the main factor is price. As demand for mobile phones has increased, the cost of the phones and calls has fallen, making mobile phones more accessible the average person. In China, the Ministry of Information has reported that the number of mobile phone users has already reached 296 million.