Lots of speculation recently on how the economic troubles are impacting the mobile phone industry. IDC reports on how handset sales are getting hit with a 12.6% worldwide decline in Q4 of 2008.
What will be the downstream impact on data consumption? Since consumers with new phones are the most active in using data, there will be some downward pressure there. On the other hand, smart phones as a percentage of sales are rising (by double digits in Q4), so there should be enough of an increase to counteract falling handset sales.
Here are the numbers on smart phones for the year 2008:
- North America: 70.1%
- EMEA (Europe, Middle, East Africa): 25.0%
(wow, NA is blowing away EMEA)
And here are IDC’s numbers for the Big 5 in Q4 2008 (in millions):
|
Vendor |
Q408 Unit Shipments |
Q408 Market Share |
Q407 Unit Shipments |
Q407 Market Share |
4Q08/4Q07 Change |
|
1. Nokia |
113.1 |
39.1% |
133.5 |
40.4% |
-15.0% |
|
2. Samsung |
52.8 |
18.3% |
46.3 |
14.0% |
14.1% |
|
3. LG Electronics |
25.7 |
8.9% |
23.7 |
7.2% |
8.4% |
|
4. Sony Ericsson |
24.2 |
8.4% |
30.8 |
9.3% |
-21.4% |
|
5. Motorola |
19.2 |
6.6% |
40.9 |
12.4% |
-53.0% |
|
Others |
54.0 |
18.7% |
55.6 |
16.8% |
-2.9% |
|
Total |
289.0 |
100.0% |
330.8 |
100.0% |
-12.6% |