Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Grew 6%

Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Grew 6 % in 2008, But Sales Declined 5 % in the Fourth Quarter

Inventory De-Stocking Lifted 4Q08 Sell-In by More Than 17 Million Units in Fourth Quarter

Egham, UK, March 2, 2009 — The global economic downturn had a significant impact on the mobile phone industry as worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 314.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2008, a 4.6 per cent decline from the fourth quarter of 2007, according to Gartner, Inc. Manufacturers continued to struggle against low consumer confidence in both emerging and mature markets.

The top five mobile phone vendors all experienced a decline in sales in the fourth quarter of 2008. The industry did experience growth for the year, with worldwide mobile phone sales to end users surpassing 1.22 billion units in 2008, a 6 per cent increase over 2007 sales.

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