Engadget Mobile
- February 4, 2009
Phone shipments plunge 12.6 percent year over year in Q4 ‘08
Filed under: Studies
IDC’s now assembled a comprehensive look at the phone biz in 2008, and as you might expect, it’s not exactly the most amazing year on record. Actually, when you take the year as a whole, shipments totaled a whopping 1.18 billion handsets — a 3.5 percent boost over 2007 — but the fourth quarter was downright brutal, seeing a 12.6 percent contraction over the same period a year prior. As analysts have been saying, though, the smartphone market will continue to be the silver lining in a tough market — shipments of “converged mobile devices” grew 22.5 percent year over year, with North American growth a staggering 70.1 percent. Carriers seem to be recognizing the world’s love affair with all-knowing, all-doing phones and plan to blow ‘em out big in 2009, but the question remains: with credit tight and businesses losing cash hand-over-fist for the foreseeable future, will the subsidies be compelling enough to let customers in the door?
Phone shipments plunge 12.6 percent year over year in Q4 ‘08 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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