Cellphone mkt slowing, smartphones still booming

HELSINKI, FINLAND: Cellphone market growth slowed slightly in the September quarter due to worries over economic growth and component shortages, and the market growth would slow further in the current quarter, researchers said on Friday.

The phones market -- the largest volume electronics industry -- has surged this year from a slump in 2009 when the recession hit consumers spending on latest gadgets around the world.

Strategy Analytics (SA) said the overall annual market growth slowed to 13 percent in the third quarter, from 16 percent on the first half, and forecast for growth to slow further to 10 percent in the fourth quarter.

"Component shortages and ongoing economic volatility slightly constrained volumes," said analyst Neil Mawston.

"We expect the escalating smartphone wars to provide positive upside for handset volumes in the fourth quarter, but the volatile supply of certain components will mean some vendors may not be able to deliver their fully desired output of phones."

The smartphone market continued to surge in the quarter, with Apple's iPhone sales rising 91 percent from a year ago, making it the No. 4 global handset vendor measured by volume. Since 2009 it has created the largest profits in the industry.

"The entrance of Apple to the top 5 vendor ranking underscores the increased importance of smartphones to the overall market," IDC analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement.

IDC said on Friday it expects smartphone market volumes to grow 55 percent this year from a year ago.

Sony Ericsson and Motorola, both benefited from their shift in focus to smartphones in the quarter, but their total sales volumes continued to shrink sharply from a year ago as they sold less cheaper models.

Among the top three vendors only No. 2 Samsung Electronics continued to win market share, while the share of LG Electronics and that of market leader Nokia shrank in the quarter.

"This was the ninth consecutive quarter that Nokia has grown volumes below the market average," said Strategy Analytics' Mawston.

LG and Nokia, both have struggled to keep up with smaller rivals in the fatter-margin business of selling more advanced cellphones, and LG on Thursday unveiled a record quarterly loss in its mobile phone unit