2010 looks like it will be a better year than 2009 for mobile handset sales. ABI Research’s current forecasts for 2010 suggest that shipment numbers will stabilize and a flat growth rate (rather than a decline) will be maintained.
Practice director Kevin Burden explained: “ABI Research estimates that worldwide handset shipments will fall by at least 8% in 2009 and we believe that flat growth in 2010 is the best the market will deliver. We will see neither significant growth nor decline in shipments, and that would actually be a good outcome: the beginning of the upswing back to a more stable growth pattern.”
The Asia-Pacific region will be the most badly affected this year, as it ships huge amounts of handsets – about three times as many as the next largest region.
Nevertheless, the overall outlook is cautiously optimistic: “There are telltale signs that at least some parts of the handset ecosystem may be starting to steady,” said Burden. “Many handset vendors are replacing component inventories after reducing them to very low levels in recent months to keep from overextending as the market dropped. This doesn’t necessarily mean the whole market is doing better, but it is good news at least for the component suppliers, some of which were really suffering.”
