Mobile shipment rates at lowest level since 1983, Nokia hit hard: report

The signs have been there, but a report by telecoms consultancy Strategy Analytics seem to confirm what many already believe: the global economic downturn caused the weakest ever growth rate since the modern cellphone industry began in 1983. Ouch.


A combination of retailers taking inventory off the shelves to improve cash flow and consumer downgrading or delaying new handset purchases to cut costs are blamed for the surprising fall in mobile device shipments, said Neil Mawston, the report's author.

According to the report, handset vendors shipped 245 million cellphones worldwide in the first quarter of this year, down a remarkable 13 per cent from 282 million units a year earlier.

The main casualty is Nokia, which shipped 93.2 million handsets worldwide in the past quarter, down 19 per cent from 115.5 million units from a year earlier. The Finnish company also lost 3 percentage points of global marketshare to 38 per cent but remains the world's top mobile handset maker.

The company still outsells its nearest competitor Samsung by a factor of 2:1, so its hold on the top spot remains firm. However, losing 3 per cent of the market in one year should be a cause of concern for Nokia, with hungry rivals such as Research In Motion and Apple selling their smartphones like hotcakes.

Regardless of how the company manoevres in these tough times, Nokia still remains a force to be renowned with in the developing world. Its handsets are relatively cheap to make and any excess inventory it has piled up in Europe and Asia should be moved over to areas where mobile subscriber growth is rampant, such as India and the MENA region.

We'll be keeping a close eye on Nokia's future moves,, but we're interested in your take - what does Nokia's next chapter look like? Are you excited at all about their upcoming products and Ovi application store? Chime in below.