Mobile phone market grew more than 11% globally in second half of 2011, says IDC
According to a research done by the International Data Corporation (IDC), the mobile phone market grew by 11.3 percent in the second quarter of 2011 globally. On the other hand the market for feature phones has experienced a decline for the first time in about two years.
Mobile phone sellers shipped 365.4 million units this year in comparison to 328.4 million units in the second quarter of 2010. This growth however is still lesser than the 13.3 percent forecast of IDC. The feature phone market decreased by four percent this year compared to 2010. The decline in shipments was seen mostly in first world regions like the United States, Japan and Western Europe, as users transferred to smartphones at an increasing rate. This has been the first decline since 2009 and illustrated how smartphones are steadily moving up in the market.
“For the overall market to grow by double digits year over year, despite the decline in feature phones, is testament to the strength of the global smartphone market. While this is not a new trend – smartphones have been the primary engine of growth for the last several quarters – it does mark something of a transition point, as demonstrated by the growing number and variety of smartphones featured in the vendors’ portfolios,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team.
The top five mobile carriers were Nokia, Samsung, LG, Apple and ZTE in that order. Apple was hugely successful in China owing to the strong demand for the iPhone 4. The market also grew steadily for Android smartphones. In Western Europe, the market faced a decline compared to the first quarter. While the feature phone market declined, the shipments of smartphones also slowed as carriers reduced inventories in advance of expected third-quarter product launches.
Smartphones though, were found to be successful in the North American region due to affordable prices, key device launches and improved marketing. The demand for feature phones continued to decrease here too. As the number of smartphone users grow, IDC predicts that feature phones will have a very small market in the future. In Latin America cost of the device plays an important role and low priced smartphones with social networking features were preferred.
Large corporations like Nokia are reportedly losing their share in the feature phone market to low-cost suppliers like Micromax, TCL-Alcatel, and Huawei. IDC is expecting this trend of the feature phone markets to decline in the coming years as well.
