Mobile Phone Shipments Registered Double-Digit Growth in Q4

A recently published report from IDC shows that the worldwide mobile phone market went up by 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter of the last year, with a number of 325.3 million units shipped during the time frame when compared to 292.4 million units shipped in the same period a year ago. According to IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, Q4 2009 ended five consecutive quarters of retrenchment, and brought the total shipment volume to 1.13 billion units in 2009, down 5.2 percent from 2008.

“The mobile phone market has rebounded in dramatic fashion,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker. “The Asia/Pacific region and the United States were primarily responsible for pushing the market back into growth territory. Overall, vendors offered a wide array of converged mobile devices (smartphones) and messaging devices in the seasonally strong fourth quarter, to take advantage of increased user demand.”

At the same time, IDC also notes that the worldwide mobile phone market is expected to rebound during the ongoing year. 2009 marked a contraction of the market due to the financial turmoil that affected the global economics, yet the demand for mobile phones has showed slight growth as the year advanced. During 2010, the handset market is expected to benefit from positive conditions courtesy of economic recovery both in developed and emerging markets. Moreover, vendors will also deliver refreshed portfolios, with a great focus on touchscreens, messaging and converged mobile devices (smartphones).

“One area of the market that has consistently shown growth all year is the converged mobile device market,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. “Consumer tastes for mobile phones have increasingly shifted from simple voice telephony to greater data usage, and both handset vendors and carriers have been eager to meet demand despite ongoing economic challenges. IDC believes that the converged mobile device market grew nearly 30% year over year, and that the market will continue to gain momentum as device selection increases and price decreases continue into 2010 and beyond.”