14 DAY TRIAL // IDC has recently published its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, which unveils the fact that the global mobile phone market has been shrinking in the second quarter of the ongoing year when compared to the same time frame a year ago. Even so, while year on year the drop was of 10.8 percent, the market registered an improvement compared to the 17.2 percent drop registered in the first quarter of the year.
During the three-month timeframe, the world's mobile phone makers managed to ship a number of 269.6 million units worldwide, compared to the 302.2 million units sold in the same period a year ago. According to IDC, the market should see a decline of 13 percent for the entire year, though it seems that the demand for high-end handsets is expected to rise during 2009.
“Among the big handset vendors, Nokia, Samsung, Research In Motion, and Apple, all beat expectations for smartphones within the second quarter,” said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “This demand for high-end mobile phones has created a price war among large mobile operators and handset vendors. Apple's price cut on the iPhone 3G reflects a trend we expect to continue in the upcoming quarters, and one that will effectively maintain competitive pricing within mature markets.”
When it comes to the different regions of the world, it seems that the North American market has seen an increase, mainly due to the arrival of some high-end devices like the Palm Pre and Apple iPhone. The prepaid devices area remained strong, the research firm says, also adding that the mid-tier and high-end device market has showed signs of improvement. At the same time, the Latin American market was stronger than expected, and 3G services and offerings have seen increased interest in the region.
The Western European market has seen weaker demand compared to last year, though converged mobile devices have seen robust growth. Some more improvements are expected to surface in the area in the second half of 2009, the research firm notes. The demand for consumer products in Asia/Pacific has remained strong, and mobile phone demand has showed recovery, with more than 100 million units shipped in the second quarter of the year.