Mobile Phone Market

Handset market to recover in 2010, claims study

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:49:39 -0500

The slump in 2008 shipments of mobile phones was the highest on record, dragging year-on-year growth for the whole of 2008 down into single figures, around six per cent. Of particular note, according to the market research group Gartner, was the two per cent quarter-on-quarter growth in Q4/08--the lowest ever recorded for what has been a boom period in past years.

However, Gartner claims the handset reseller channels were attempting to significantly reduce their inventory during Q4, driven by their need to reduce upfront Capex requirements. "Efforts to reduce inventory will intensify in the first quarter of 2009 and continue into the second quarter," said Gartner's mobile industry research director, Carolina Milanesi. "In the second half of 2009, the channel will have to start restocking. But, the 'real' market recovery will not happen until 2010 when demand will stabilise around the first quarter."

However, another study conducted by iSuppli maintained that smartphone shipments will, in the best case, increase to over 192 million, up more than 11 per cent from 173.6 million in 2008. "For this optimistic scenario to come to fruition, mobile operators must cut fees for data services and offer aggressive subsidies to reduce consumer smartphone prices," said Tina Teng, an analyst for iSuppli.

For more on this story:
CNNmoney and Rethink Wireless

Mobile phone market shrinks 12.6% year-on-year in Q4/08

Paul Rasmussen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:48:26 -0500

According to a new IDC report, the global mobile phone market has seen an unexpected drop during the fourth quarter of last year. IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker states that a total of 289 million units were shipped in Q4 2008, which is 12.6 per cent lower than the fourth quarter of 2007, with 330.8 million units moved. At the same time, 1.18 billion units were shipped worldwide during the entire year 2008, 3.5 per cent higher compared to 1.14 billion units a year before."Q4 was the perfect storm of factors to produce this result," said Ramon Llamas, a research analyst with IDC. "A combination of weak end-user demand, currency volatility and limited credit availability prevented the market from experiencing the usual seasonal increase in shipments." Article

GPS handsets to outperform the market

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 12:49:29 -0500

Although there might be a slight blip in mid-year sales of GPS-enabled handsets will outperform sales in the mainstream mobile phone market in 2009. Globally mobile handset sales are expected to fall by 4 to 5 per cent this year but according to ABI Research, sales of GPS-enabled phones will reach 240 million units, an increase of 6.4 per cent on 2008. This unexpected success story will be driven by the demand for smartphones, such as the Apple 3G iPhone, which will increase at an average annual shipment rate of 14 per cent through 2014. Over this period GPS chipsets will continue to penetrate the smartphone sector with nine out of ten such devices being GPS-enabled by 2014 compared to one in three in 2008.

Other factors that will continue to push the inclusion of GPS in handsets include the increased deployment of open source operating systems such as Google's Android which provide application specific interfaces (APIs) that allow developers to create location-based content for mobile devices, and the ongoing introduction of more navigation and map-based applications.

For more on this story:
- go to Mobile Europe

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Western Europe feels cold wind of downturn

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:28:43 -0500

The Western Europe mobile phone market stopped growing the third quarter of 2008 as consumer spending was hit by the economic downturn. Mobile voice revenues had already fallen by 1 per cent over the previous eighteen months but this figure increased to 3 per cent in the third quarter, according to a report from Strategy Analytics.

The good news was that mobile data revenues increased globally by 20 per cent in the third quarter and this has helped to maintain service revenues. However, says Phil Kendall, director of Strategy Analytics' Global Wireless Practice, comments "even these (mobile data revenues) could not save the European market last quarter from service revenue growth coming to an abrupt halt."

For more:
- go to Teleclick

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Nokia cuts mobile phone sales forecast-again

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:07:30 -0500

Finnish mobile giant Nokia has cut its forecast for mobile phone sales in the current quarter for the third time in less than three months. Within the last month Nokia predicted 330 million mobile phones would be shipped in the last quarter of 2008, a figure the company now feels was optimistic. Nokia would not be drawn into a precise forecast of sales saying only the final number would be lower, presumably meaning lower than 330 million. The company says the entire industry is slowing down and analysts should focus on Nokia's market share rather than actual units sold. Nokia thinks it can increase its market share in 2009 from its present level of 38 per cent. It is also promising reduced capital and operational expenditures.

For more:
- go to The Register

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Credit crunch bites European mobile market

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:54:35 -0500

A new report from Ovum says Europe has become the first regional mobile market to be hit by the economic downturn. After analysing the Q3 2008 financial results of mobile operators around the world, Ovum concluded that, although other markets have so far proved resilient, Europe's top mobile operators show a marked, credit-crunch-induced deterioration in performance. The US mobile market has to date resisted the downturn and developing markets such as Latin America continue to enjoy double-digit revenue growth rates.

The good news is that Ovum does not anticipate a major slowdown for the mobile industry. Although some operators may become vulnerable, says Emeka Obiodu, a senior analyst at Ovum and the lead author of the report, the mobile market remains overwhelmingly buoyant and he expects it to ride out the current financial crises.

For more on this story go to Cellular News and Mobile Europe

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Economic problems impact mobile phone market

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:06:44 -0500

In the third quarter of 2008 the percentage growth in mobile phone sales worldwide declined to less than half that achieved in the same period in 2007. According to Gartner's latest mobile phone market analysis, total sales were 309 million units in Q3, a six per cent increase on Q3 2007. The global economic crisis is the main factor impacting on sales.

Market leading manufacturers Nokia and Samsung held up well under the impact of the global economic downturn although the former experienced lower replacement sales in mature and emerging markets. The main effects of the economic problems were felt in the battle for the world number three position currently raging between Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola. The Gartner report says Sony Ericsson emerged as the winner in the third quarter largely because of the problems being experienced by its rivals.

Mobile phone sales in Western Europe were 43.5 million units in Q3, down from 47.2 million units in 2007. A slowdown in replacement sales adversely affected market performance in the region and will continue to do so in the fourth quarter says Gartner. In Eastern Europe, although a number of countries including Russia, Hungary, the Ukraine and Romania were badly affected by the financial crisis, this did not translate into a downturn in mobile phone sales.

For more on this story go to Telecomredux and Cellular News

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