14 DAY TRIAL // The global mobile phone maker has seen improvements in the third quarter of the ongoing year, yet it seems that the same does not apply to the Canadian handset market. According to a recent report from IDC, the sales of mobile phones in Canada went down by 8 percent in Q3 2009, marking the third quarterly decline it sees this year.
The results from IDC Canada's Mobile Phone Tracker also show that in the third quarter of the ongoing year, mobile phone makers delivered 4 percent fewer handsets to wireless service providers or to other retail channels, when compared to the same period of time in 2008. Moreover, it appears that the marker went down even if smartphones have seen a double-digit growth in the time frame.
According to Kevin Restivo, lead analyst for IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker in Canada, the weaker performance of the mobile phone market is the result of the tepid Canadian economy and of the much slower sales in the traditional phone segment. He adds that another factor was represented by wireless carriers' plans to clear out their inventories for the launch of new networks.
When compared to the second quarter of this year, the performance on the mobile phone market was a lower one. The sequential drop in Canada was of 1.7 percent, the report shows. For the entire 2009, IDC expects for Canadian mobile phone manufacturers to deliver 3 percent less handsets than in 2008, mainly due to slower demand, based on the weaker economy.
The performance of the Canadian mobile phone market is also compared to the market in the United States, which went up for the three-month period. According to the research firm, the US market registered a good performance due to the traction seen by converged mobile devices (smartphones) and by prepaid handsets in the country.