Cellular trends

Inventory Destocking Continues with 13.9 Million Units Shed by the Channel

Egham, UK, August 12, 2009 -- Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 286.1 million units in the second quarter of 2009, a 6.1 per cent decrease from the second quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT). Smartphone sales surpassed 40 million units, a 27 per cent increase from the same period last year, representing the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market (see Table 2).

"Despite the challenging market, some devices sold well as consumers who would usually have purchased standard midrange devices either cut back to less expensive handsets or moved up the range to get more features for their money," said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. "Touchscreen and qwerty devices remained a major driver for replacement sales and benefited manufacturers with strong, touch-focused midtier devices. However, the decline in average selling price (ASP) accelerated in the first half of the year and particularly affected manufacturers that focus on midtier and low-end devices, where margins are already slim."

First quarter 2008 U.S. revenues from handset sales reached $2.7 billion -- down 7 percent from the previous year

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, May 20, 2008 – According to The NPD Group, the leader in market research for the wireless industry, mobile phone handset sales to consumers in the U.S. reached nearly 31 million units in the first quarter of 2008, which is a 22 percent decline since the same period a year ago.

NPD estimates total first quarter 2008 consumer sales of nearly $2.7 billion, down from $2.9 billion a year ago.

Motorola W220i: Photo by Muhammad Hamidi (CC)

“For the first time since NPD has tracked handset sales, we’ve noted a decline in sales during the first quarter after the holidays,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD. “Cellular phone service has become a practical necessity in modern life; however, with looming economic concerns on the horizon, many consumers may be holding back on new handset purchases.”

J.D. Power and Associates Reports

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- 22 May 2008 -- Verizon Wireless ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction for wireless data service, effectively meeting customer expectations and requirements of both large enterprise and small/midsize business segments, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Business Wireless Satisfaction Study released today.

Verizon Wireless logo on Apple's iPhone

Now in its fourth year, the study measures customer satisfaction of small and midsize businesses (fewer than 100 employees) and large enterprises (100 employees or more) with their wireless voice and data services across eight key factors. In order of importance, they are: call quality (23%); sales representatives/account executives (16%); company image (12%); customer service (11%); billing (10%); offerings and promotions (10%); cost of service (9%); and performance and reliability (9%).