by millionairemind » Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:25 pm
February 5, 2009, 6.44 am (Singapore time)
Mobile phone market down 13% on weak demand
WASHINGTON - Mobile phone sales fell by 12.6 per cent to 289 million units in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with the same quarter a year ago, market research firm IDC said on Wednesday.
Finland's Nokia remained the top mobile phone maker in 2008 on sales of 468.4 million units, a 39.7 per cent market share
For the full year, mobile phone vendors shipped a total of 1.18 billion units worldwide, IDC said, 3.5 per cent more than the 1.14 billion units of 2007.
The company described the double-digit drop in mobile phone shipments in the fourth quarter as an 'unusual downturn,' but said the first half of 2009 would remain 'very challenging.' 'The fourth quarter was the perfect storm of factors to produce this result,' said Ramon Llamas, a senior 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,' he said.
Mr Llamas said IDC expects the first half of 2009 to be 'very challenging as vendors and distributors grapple with clearing inventory.
'Should these conditions persist, the mobile phone market may not recover until later this year, and possibly not until 2010,' he said.
On the bright side, sales of smartphones, which allow users to surf the Internet or send and receive email, grew by 22.5 per cent in 2008 compared with the previous year, IDC said.
'In mature markets, such as North America and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), the converged mobile device segment grew 70.1 per cent and 25 per cent respectively in 2008,' said Ryan Reith, another senior IDC research analyst.
'As long as operators are able to continue to subsidize these devices, and developers continue to enhance applications, then this segment will be a silver lining to an otherwise gloomy market,' he said.
IDC said Finland's Nokia remained the top mobile phone maker in 2008 on sales of 468.4 million units, a 39.7 per cent market share.
South Korea's Samsung was next with sales of 196.7 million units, a market share of 16.7 per cent, followed by another South Korean firm, LG Electronics, with 100.7 million units, an 8.5 per cent share of the market.
US company Motorola was fourth on sales of 100.1 million units, also an 8.5 per cent market share, followed by Sony Ericsson, which shipped 96.6 million units for an 8.2 per cent market share. -- AFP
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch
Disclaimer - The author may at times own some of the stocks mentioned in this forum. All discussions are NOT to be construed as buy/sell recommendations. Readers are advised to do their own research and analysis.