According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the worldwide global phone market has grown by 11.3 percent in the second quarter of 2011. This rise was seen despite a decline in the feature phone market for the first time since third quarter of 2009.
This increase is lower than the 16.8 percent growth in the first quarter and also less when compared to the 13.3 percent forecasted growth. In the second quarter of 2011, the feature phone market dwindled by 4 percent as compared to second quarter of 2010. It was the first decline in the feature phone market observed since third quarter of 2009. This decline is primarily attributed to the shift of economically developed regions like Western Europe, United States and Japan towards smartphones.
“For the overall market to grow by double digits year over year, despite the decline in feature phones, is testament to the strength of the global smartphone market. While this is not a new trend – smartphones have been the primary engine of growth for the last several quarters – it does mark something of a transition point, as demonstrated by the growing number and variety of smartphones featured in the vendors’ portfolios.” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s mobile phone technology and trends team.
In the global market scenario, smartphones reigned in North America while Latin America was driven by low-cost smartphones, especially with social networking features. The feature phone market deteriorated in Western Europe while the smartphone supply growth was also slow. In the Asia-Pacific market, various domestic brands like Wellcom and Nexian survived, while Apple thrived in China on the demand for iPhone 4.
In the quarters and years to come, IDC is also said to be expecting growth of not more than 1.1 percent in the feature phone market. Even with Nokia’s weakening stronghold it stayed on the top position this quarter, followed by Samsung, LG, Apple and ZTE respectively.