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Mobile phone market booms up worldwide
By siliconindia
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Saturday, 30 April 2011, 00:08 IST
Bangalore: The global mobile phone market has risen in the first quarter of this year by 19.8 percent due to the meteoric rise of smartphone shipments, especially in emerging markets reported in a research by IDC, a global market intelligence and consulting firm.
The Smartphone growth worldwide particularly in countries like Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, helped lift the overall market to a record first-quarter high. Various handset manufacturers, including feature phone makers such as Micromax and TCL-Alcatel, outpaced the overall market. New devices from HTC, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson sold well in most countries in the high-end tiers.
Handset shipments grew 17 percent from a year ago, driven by surging Smartphone demand in mature regions and increasingly popular models with multiple SIM cards in emerging market. IDC also says that, there will not be a disappearance of the feature phones as the Smartphones are in the market. Feature phones are still in demand in the markets.
Apple maintained its number 4 spot on IDC's Top 5 list. Apple's iPhone and HTC Thunderbolt were two devices that helped keep the Smartphone category front and center of the overall mobile phone market buoyed by strong sales on Verizon Wireless. Nokia remains as one of the world's largest mobile phone maker by volume, although its market share dropped from 34.7 percent to 29.2 percent year-over-year.