14 DAY TRIAL // The market of converged mobile devices, which are widely known around the world as smartphones, registered impressive growth during the fourth quarter of the last year, a recently published report from IDC shows. According to the research firm, the shipment of these devices rose to a total of 54.5 million units in Q4 2009, marking a 39 percent increase when compared to the same time frame the year before.
At the same time, IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker also shows that the total shipments of smartphones for the entire year 2009 reached 174.2 million units, marking an increase of 15.1 percent when compared to the 151.4 million units shipped in 2008. According to the research firm, the converged mobile devices accounted for around 15.4 percent of all mobile phones that were shipped during 2009, a small growth when compared to the 12.7 percent they accounted for in 2008.
“Four of the top five vendors established new shipment records for a single quarter, indicating strong demand in the market,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. “Increasingly, mobile phone users are seeking greater utility from their devices beyond telephony and messaging, and converged mobile devices fulfill that need. To help address demand, carriers took advantage of lower prices on many older devices, ordering additional units and, in turn, offering reduced prices to end users. It was the perfect set of conditions to push shipments to a record level.”
When it comes to the ongoing year, IDC says that the demand will drive the market of converged mobile devices upwards, and record shipments are expected for 2010. Moreover, the changing landscape of mobile operating systems should also influence the traction smartphones will enjoy during this year. The research firm notes that the last year was only the “coming-out party” for platforms like Google's Android and Palm's webOS, and that they appeal to users a lot due to the increased functionality they can offer.
“More advances are in store for 2010 as Symbian and Windows are expected to unveil new versions of their respective operating systems. These and other operating systems will compete with attention-grabbing intuitiveness and seamlessness, a thriving mobile application library, and a compelling user experience that tightly holds on to the user. In the end, users will benefit from not only greater usability, but greater personalization and customization as well,” Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker, concludes.