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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 Chrome Gets Conversational Search Attention GIFers, It's Pronounced 'Jif' Nvidia GPU Boosts Citrix XenDesktop Security Alert: New Trojan Attacking Blue Coat Beefs Up Big Data Security 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 CommVault is a data and information management software company dedicated to providing organizations worldwide with a radically better way to manage data and information. Their unique Solving Forward philosophy allows them to deliver complete solutions with infinite scalability and unprecedented control over data and costs. Be among the first to experience Simpana 10 software. Click here now.  Mobile Tech 1.   Chrome Gets Conversational Search 2.   Armageddon for Phone-Maker HTC? 3.   De Brouwer's Magical Health Tricorder 4.   High-Tech Guns Disabled Remotely 5.   iPhone Takes a Hit in Satisfaction

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Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

Dell Kills Its Public Cloud Effort, Will Offer Partner Marketplace Putting the kibosh on its efforts to build out a public cloud, Dell has announced a new program to offer a choice of cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service through a central marketplace of partners.   Dell's Dismal Quarter Shows PC Maker's Challenges Dell's financial decay worsened during its latest quarter as the company slashed its personal computer prices in response to the growing popularity of smartphones and tablets in the beleaguered industry.   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.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

Google Adds Conversational Search to Chrome If you like chatting with Siri, sending voice texts while driving or telling your Xbox when to pause or rewind a DVD, you're going to enjoy the upgrade to Google's Chrome browser.   HTC Execs Bolt, Sales Slide. Is the End Near for the Company? What's going on with HTC? A string of executives quitting and slowing sales for new phone models are raising questions about the health of this major phone maker. Is the end in sight?   Walter De Brouwer's Magical Medical Tricorder In cluttered old offices rooted in the past, Walter De Brouwer works feverishly to conjure the future, hammering away on a gadget that promises to revolutionize the way we monitor our health.

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