IMS: Handset Sales Growth Slowing

New figures from IMS Research‘s Online Cellular Database show that worldwide shipments of new cell phones will reach 1.19 billion this year. The number is up only 5.7% over the 1.12 billion handsets shipped in 2007, and “significantly lower than previous years, which enjoyed double-digit growth,” the market researcher said.

The research found several reasons for the slowdown, including a softening of the global economy, consumers having less disposable income and the fact that more consumers are getting talked into longer-term contracts with their carriers that keep them from buying a new phone as early as handset makers would probably like.

“Recent announcements from Texas Instruments and Sony Ericsson have highlighted the fact that demand is not as strong for high-end handsets, especially in mature market. While this is cause for concern, the overall handset market is still expected to grow in 2008, just at a more conservative pace than initially expected,” IMS mobile technologies analyst Bill Morelli said in a statement that was probably meant to be reassuring.

(Image credit: Jupiterimages Unlimited)

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