Average Rating: Rate this article:

IDC Sees Overall Slow Phone Growth, But Smartphone Boom Continues By Jennifer LeClaire December 4, 2012 11:40AM     "Sluggish economic conditions worldwide have cast a pall over the mobile phone market this year," said IDC's Kevin Restivo. The market research firm predicts 1.7 billion phones will be shipped worldwide this year, up just 1.4 percent over last year. But IDC says 717.5 million of those phones will be smartphones, and that segment is up 45.1 percent over last year.   Related Topics Smartphone Mobile Phone Android iOS Windows Phone BlackBerry 10 Latest News Reality TV's New Stars: Small Biz Soundbars Up the Ante on TV Sound Google Glass Raises Privacy Concerns Pentagon Gives iOS 6 Security OK Should Enterprises Skip Windows 8? The mobile phone world is growing like gangbusters...or is it? According to an IDC forecast , mobile phone market growth is slowing. The worldwide market is set to grow 1.4 percent year-over-year in 2012. That marks the lowest annual growth rate in three years. IDC reports vendors will ship more than 1.7 billion mobile phones in 2012. In 2016, IDC forecasts 2.2 billion mobile phones will be shipped to retail. For the fourth quarter, global smartphone shipments will reach 224.5 million units, a 39.5 percent year-over-year growth. And for 2012, smartphone shipments are forecast to grow 45.1 percent year-over-year to 717.5 million units. But that doesn't make up for the slowing mobile phone market overall. "Sluggish economic conditions worldwide have cast a pall over the mobile phone market this year," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "However, the fourth quarter will be relatively bright due in part to sales of high-profile smartphones, such as the iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S III, in addition to lower-cost Android-powered smartphones shipped to China and other high-growth emerging markets." Slowing or Not? Telecom industry analyst Jeff Kagan said he hears from the carriers that phones are still selling as rapidly as ever, but he said the growth is likely to slow eventually. "Once we reach the magic number -- whatever that magic number is -- the growth of the smartphone market is going to slow. But everyone doesn't have one today. Roughly half of the market has a smartphone. The other half of the market isn't going to totally go smartphone. There are plenty of users who don't want smartphones," Kagan told us. "Growth may be slowing because the first waves where users purchased super smartphones for the first time has passed and now they are buying every year or two years. But every smartphone user is going to be buying a new smartphone in a year or two. So it's not like smartphones are going to stop selling." Android vs. iPhone Android will be the clear leader in the smartphone mobile operating system race, thanks in large part to a broad selection of devices from a wide range of partners, IDC predicted. Samsung is the leading Android smartphone seller but LG Electronics and Sony are also selling their fair share of Android devices. IDC believes the net result of this will be continued double-digit growth throughout the forecast period. (continued...) 1  |  2  |  Next Page >   Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com

Product Information and Resources for Technology You Can Use To Boost Your Business BYOD & MDM   Build a business case for a BYOD program. CRM Systems   Free Download: Understanding the Voice of the Customer   Unlock the potential in your people with Microsoft Dynamics   How Microsoft Dynamics helped mobilize retail businesses   2 million CRM success stories and counting...   Experience CRM and Business Success today with Salesforce.com.   Free Download: Understanding the Voice of the Customer   Optimize CRM with Data Quality Management. More from Trillium Cloud & Virtualization   Riverbed Stingray Traffic Manager on Amazon Web Services Contact Centers   Unlock the potential in your people with Microsoft Dynamics Customer Data   Free Download: Understanding the Voice of the Customer   See how you can benefit from Microsoft Dynamics   Free Download: Understanding the Voice of the Customer Customer Service   Improve your customer relationships with Microsoft Dynamics   2 million CRM success stories and counting...   Unlock the potential in your people with Microsoft Dynamics Data Security   Simpana® 10 software: an exponential leap forward Enterprise Hardware   The 2013 Toughpad™ tablets. Rugged, secure and built for business.   Rugged and reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers.   The best document scanner for you? Try KODAK's scanner selector   APC makes it easy for you to focus on business growth, not downtime. Enterprise I.T.   Brocade's mission: Making networks easier to deploy, manage, and scale.   11 Challenges Solved by Infrastructure for Small IT Environments Enterprise Software   Get critical data off paper and into SharePoint! Watch the video.   Simpana® 10 software: an exponential leap forward Hardware   The 2013 Toughpad™ tablets. Rugged, secure and built for business.   Rugged and reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers.   Rugged and reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers Innovation   The best document scanner for you? Try KODAK's scanner selector   Brocade's mission: Making networks easier to deploy, manage, and scale. Laptops & Tablets   Rugged and reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers. Mobile Apps   Build great mobile apps that drive engagement. Mobile Tech   Rugged and reliable Panasonic Toughbook® mobile computers Small Business   The best document scanner for you? Try KODAK's scanner selector Tech Trends   APC makes it easy for you to focus on business growth, not downtime.

Network Security Spotlight

Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Financial Times The Financial Times is the latest victim of the Syrian Electronic Army, a group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.K.-based newspaper said a blog and its Twitter accounts were hacked.   Patch Tuesday Hyper Focuses on IE 8 Microsoft on Tuesday issued 10 security bulletins that fix 33 vulnerabilities. These updates include MS13-038, which will address the Internet Explorer 8 issue described in Security Advisory 2847140.   Surge of Venture Capital Buoys Tech Security Sector With companies and governments spending billions to repel cyberthreats, a surge of venture capital is pouring into companies developing cybersecurity technologies, the front line of the conflict.

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

U.S. Defense Department Gives iOS 6 Security OK In a vote of confidence for Apple's iOS devices, the Defense Department has given the all-clear for employees to use iPads and iPhones for work. But only those running iOS 6, and only if issued by the government.   Cisco Surges After Profit Exceeds Analysts' Estimates Networking equipment giant Cisco's net income jumped 14 percent in the latest quarter as revenue at all four of its divisions rose for the first time in a year and a half, as tech spending increases.   HP and SAP Team To Advance HANA Database Technology The two tech leaders are working on a system that SAP says could fundamentally change the database market. HANA is SAP's technology that keeps data in-memory, for super fast processing.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

Google Glass Raises Congressional Privacy Concerns The buzz around Google Glass continues, but it's not all good. Some in Congress have questions. "We are curious whether this new technology could infringe on the privacy of average Americans," their letter to Google says.   Windows Phone Now No. 3 in Market, BlackBerry No. 4 Has Microsoft Phone moved into a coveted though distant third place for smartphone platforms behind Google's Android and Apple's iOS? A new report says yes, while BlackBerry has slipped to No. 4.   Intel Going Mobile with Its New CEO In his first speech as Intel's CEO, Brian Krzanich said he plans to focus on beefing up Intel's presence in mobility. The next step: a world tour showing mobile devices based on Intel chips, from PCs to phones and tablets.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

HP and SAP Team To Advance HANA Database Technology The two tech leaders are working on a system that SAP says could fundamentally change the database market. HANA is SAP's technology that keeps data in-memory, for super fast processing.   Cloud Computing Gains Another Competitor with Google Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure now have a full-on rival in Google, with its I/O announcement that it is opening its hosted Compute Engine environment for virtual machines to all comers.   Hackers' New Tool of Choice: Smartphones Smartphones are increasingly popular not only with consumers, but with thieves who see the devices as another way to tap into bank accounts and other sensitive information, experts say.

Navigation NewsFactor Network Home/Top News | Enterprise I.T. | Cloud & Virtualization | Applications | Unified Communications | Mobile Tech | Hardware | Business Intelligence World Wide Web | Network Security | Data Storage | Small Business | Microsoft/Windows | Apple/Mac | Linux/Open Source | Personal Tech Press Releases NewsFactor Network Enterprise I.T. Sites NewsFactor Technology News | Enterprise Security Today | CRM Daily NewsFactor Business and Innovation Sites Sci-Tech Today | NewsFactor Business Report NewsFactor Services FreeNewsFeed | Free Newsletters | About NewsFactor Network | How To Contact Us | Article Reprints | Careers @ NewsFactor | Services for PR Pros | Top Tech Wire | How To Advertise Privacy Policy | Terms of Service © Copyright 2000-2013 NewsFactor Network. All rights reserved. Article rating technology by Blogowogo. Member of Accuserve Ad Network.