GartnerRSS

Handset sales drop for first time in three years

Phone sales showed a decline for the first time since 2009

Global sales of mobile phones declined on a qurterly basis for the first time in nearly three years, according to research firm Gartner this week. The two per cent year-on-year drop between the first quarters of 2012 and 2011 marks the first time the market has weakened since the second quarter of 2009.

Gartner: smartphone sales up 58 per cent in 2011

iPhone4s

Gartner has published its mobile device numbers for the final quarter of 2011, reporting that 1.8 billion units were sold to end users across the year, up 11.1 per cent on 2010. Smartphones accounted for 31 per cent of all device sales with 472 million units sold, up 58 per cent year on year.

Android to win half the smartphone market by 2012, says Gartner

Growth in lower end smartphones, particularly in emerging markets, will fuel the growth in Android's market share

The Google-backed Android OS will account for almost 50 per cent of the smartphone market by the end of 2012, according to Gartner research, giving it an enormous lead on its competitors. Gartner forecasts that Android sales will hit 310 million in 2012 as the smartphone market surges to 630.5 million devices for the year.

ZTE nears 50% handset growth, targets top three ranking

The ZTE Blade was among the firm's most popular handsets

Chinese vendor ZTE has reported close on 50 per cent year-on-year growth in shipments of its handset products worldwide, selling 90 million units in 2010. The firm said that it had been ranked as the leading Chinese 3G handset vendor by research firm iSuppli, and pledged to boost its branding activities to help it achieve a place among the top three handset vendors worldwide within five years.