Mobile handsets sales grew at the slowest pace since 2002 as a consequence of the sliding demand from the emerging markets that are facing financial crisis.

Research firm Strategy Analytics revealed that Q3 2008 witnessed slowest growth rate in mobile phone sales since 2002, as reported by BBC.

As compared to 13.2% growth recorded in Q3 2007, the same period this year registered a mere 5.4% increase in worldwide mobile handset shipments. In other words, a total of 303 Million mobile phones were shipped globally in Q3 2008.

For the period Oct-Dec 2008, 345 Million Units are expected to be sold, a steep decline from the 12.3% growth recorded in Q4 2007. Also, 1.23 Billion Units are predicted to be sold in 2008, i.e. 9% up from the previous year.

The sluggish growth in the sales of mobile handsets has been triggered by the decelerating economies of most of the emerging markets. As a result, demand is declining in these markets, thus affecting the sales of mobile phone globally. The mobile handset demand is further suppressed by the weakening consumer confidence.

Moreover, the leading mobile operators worldwide are not prepared to subsidize the mobile handsets to the same extent as it was subsidized earlier, so as to add on new customers rapidly. The same factor is responsible for the sluggish growth in the worldwide sales of mobile handsets in Q3 2008.

Despite the lower prices of mobile handsets, the future growth in the concerned sector is expected to be moderate. Further, the cost control and pressurizing the supplier pricing are the business standards of the operators. Consequently, the mobile handset vendors are facing a mounting pressure on pricing the device.

According to a Research Analyst at RNCOS, “The current financial turmoil, spreading globally and affecting almost all the major industries, has struck the mobile handset market too. The lower prices of the handsets and declining demand are putting immense pressure on revenues of mobile operators and producers. Their profit margins have got reduced significantly as a result of low handset costs. The mobile industry can expect some improvement only after the recovery of the emerging markets from the ongoing economic slowdown.”

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