IDC's latest Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows

Oct 13, 2009 14:02 GMT  ·  By

Smartphones are seen as the mobile devices that haven't been affected by the financial downturn during the ongoing year, and the latest IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker results show just that. According to the report, the smartphone market in Australia has seen an impressive growth during the first half of 2009 when compared to the same period a year ago: 29 percent.

According to the research firm, data-centric converged devices (featuring a touchscreen or QWERTY keyboard) have seen an even more impressive growth, namely 235 percent year-on-year. The report also shows that data-centric handsets managed to outpace voice-centric ones, as they accounted for 51 percent of the total number of converged device shipments during the first quarter of the ongoing year, and rose up to 65 percent by the end of the second quarter.

Touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard-based converged devices have seen phenomenal growth over the past 12 months, when the segment comprised only 25% of all converged devices shipped,” said Mark Novosel, market analyst, Telecommunications at IDC. Moreover, it seems that traditional mobile phones also performed well in the time frame, registering an 11.5 percent growth (they account for 66.9 percent of the total Australian mobile device market).

“IDC has upgraded its five-year forecast in response to two strong quarters of growth, with Australia's converged device market now expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% over the next five years,” Novosel said. “The Australian Dollar has recovered strongly over the past six months, meaning consumers can expect converged device prices to soften in the second half of the year, ahead of the Christmas spending season,” he added.

According to IDC, based on the fact that the Australian phone market has managed to perform incredibly well throughout the financial crisis, it is expected to expand even more during the following years. The research firm also says that Apple has been ranked second in the converged device list, due to the launch of iPhone 3GS and lower price for iPhone 3G 8GB. The company sees a market share of around 21 percent during the second quarter of the year.