Cell phone shipments expected to fall 9 percent
May 19, 2009
The global recession has slashed demand for cell phones and shipments of wireless phones will decline by 9 percent this year, according to market analyst Ovum.
Ovum reported that a huge drop in demand for mid-market phones will lead to an overall decline in the wireless sector.
Phone maker Sony Ericsson saw its sales plummet in the fourth quarter, mainly due to the company's reliance on low-end phones that play music or offer camera features, according to InformationWeek.
"This has had a polarizing effect on the handset market with vendors and mobile operators focusing on two types of handset: those targeting the low-end and high-end segments," said Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum. "This in turn has quickened the replacement of 2G in favor of 3G handsets, withhigh-end 2G handset shipments suffering the most from the shift."
Although the overall market should recover by the end of this year, Ovum said phone shipments won't reach their 2008 levels again until 2012.
The market for higher end smartphones - like the new Palm Pre and BlackBerry Storm - is still expected to grow, Ovum said.
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