Smartphones up, cellphones down

Canadian sales of mobile phones will drop 3.8 per cent this year over last, according to IDC Canada. The drop is being caused by a weaker overall economy. “Many mobile phone manufacturers will continue to find it increasingly difficult to grow, given the uncertain economic climate,” said Kevin Restivo, IDC’s lead mobile phone tracker analyst in Canada. “Sellers of traditional mobiles will be most heavily impacted throughout the year.”

 

There is good news for smartphone sellers, however. Shipments of converged mobile devices grew 33 per cent over the first quarter of 2008 and IDC expects shipments of these devices to grow by 3.7 per cent overall this year.