New data reveals that mobile phone sales around the world declined just a bit in the second quarter of this year, with the sudden lack of demand being blamed on those waiting to buy a new iPhone.
Gartner has announced worldwide sales of mobile phones hit 419 million in the second quarter of 2012, but don't break out the champagne quite yet -- that's actually a decline of 2.3 percent from the same quarter last year.
"Demand slowed further in the second quarter of 2012," explains Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta. "The challenging economic environment and users postponing upgrades to take advantage of high-profile device launches and promotions available later in the year slowed demand across markets. Demand of feature phones continued to decline, significantly weakening the overall mobile phone market."
So what can we blame the decline on? Why, Apple, of course.
"High-profile smartphone launches from key manufacturers such as the anticipated Apple iPhone 5, along with Chinese manufacturers pushing 3G and preparing for major device launches in the second half of 2012, will drive the smartphone market upward. However, feature phones will continue to see pressure," Gupta added.
The better news for manufacturers is that smartphones now account for 36.7 percent of total mobile phone sales, a growth of 42.7 percent in Q2 2012.
Samsung remains the top dog where cell phones are concerned, with 21.6 percent of the market followed by beleaguered Nokia in second place with 19.9. Of course, those are mostly dumb phones these days, since the company's smartphone business is under attack from the likes of Apple, who comes in third with 6.9 percent of the overall mobile phone market.
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(Image courtesy Geltan Lee, Flickr.com)
