Japan''s Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) said that the country has shipped a record 5.1 million mobile phones in June 2008- a 2.1 percent surge year-on-year, the first time that the shipments crossed 5 million since July 2007.

But, the figures for the first half of this year showed a decline of 5.2 percent to 24.92 million handsets.

And of overall shipments made, some 73.5% were those who are compatible with the One-Seg digital terrestrial broadcasting service.

A spokesman for a cell phone manufacturer credited the trend of larger portion of buyers purchasing One-Seg compatible phones to the ‘Beijing Olympics. Calling the trend a temporary phenomenon, he said it will cease to exist once the Olympic Games ends, reports Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.