InternetSluggish Economy Not Sinking Smartphone Sales

Mobile device makers revel in double-digit unit shipment growth despite lackluster economic conditions.

A sluggish economy isn't stopping users from buying new and increasingly powerful mobile phones, as the industry continues to experience double-digit growth over last year, a new IDC report found. Device makers shipped 306 million units during the second quarter of the year -- up 5.6 percent from last quarter and a 15.3 percent increase from the second quarter of 2007. "Communication is vital to everyone's daily lifestyle, and nowadays, it happens to be mobile communication -- as compared to 10 years ago when wireline communication was a standard," Ryan Reith, IDC senior research analyst , told InternetNews.com. "What this shows is that this market is powerful and still has room to grow," he said. RELATED ARTICLES The Pulse of the Smartphone Market Smartphone Users Getting More Social Online Smartphone Users Want More Fun For more stories on this topic: The report is the latest testament to the staying power of mobile phones despite macroeconomic conditions slowing consumer spending elsewhere. In May, a study from J.D. Power and Associates found that consumers are willing to pay extra for advanced phone features, driving costs to their highest level in years. In the IDC report, the high-end mobile device segment in particular continues to see very strong demand, with sales growing at a 40 percent year-over-year rate. "This tells us that not only are people still buying phones, but they are buying... [ Read more on www.internetnews.com ]

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