People world-wide are buying fewer
mobile-phones for the first time in four years
LONDON: Sales of
mobile-phones around the world fell last year for the first time since 2009 as
consumers shunned cheaper feature phones, research company Gartner said.
“Tough economic conditions,
shifting consumer preferences and intense market competition weakened the
worldwide mobile-phone market,” Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta said yesterday.
Smartphone sales, a category
dominated by Samsung and Apple, continued to rise, he said, and the higher-end
devices would account for more than half the market for the first time this
year.
Total worldwide mobile sales to end-users fell 1.7% to 1.75
billion units in 2012, Gartner said.
Samsung and Apple continued to dominate the market, with the South
Korean company selling 385 million phones in 2012, of which 53.5% were
smartphones, with Apple selling 130 million smartphones.
In the fourth quarter alone,
Apple and Samsung accounted for 52% of smartphone sales, up from 46% in the
third quarter.
China's Huawei reached third
spot in worldwide smartphone sales for the first time in the fourth quarter,
Gartner said.
The company sold 27.2 million smartphones to end-users in 2012, up
74%. - Reuters
Source: The Star
Date: 14 Feb
2013
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