Global smart phone sales are growing at the slowest rate since records began, according to the latest figures from Gartner. Sales growth fell to 11.5% in the third quarter of 2008, and is expected to continue slowing. Nearly 36.5 million smart phones were shipped worldwide in the three-month period.
Gartner said the current economic climate is denting sales of higher-end devices, “and we should expect the smart phone device market to continue to grow but at a slower pace.”
“Although leading mobile operators are subsidising more smart phones to reach lower prices, they tie the device to two-year contracts with monthly data plan rates which remain too expensive for the mainstream user.”
The figures are bad news for market leader Nokia, which saw sales drop for the first time, down 3% on last year’s figures. The company still shipped 42.4% of the global total, but was hurt by not having a touch-screen phone on the market. The N97 is not due until next year.
Nokia’s poor showing also affected Symbian, cutting the market share of the mobile operating system to below 50% for the first time. Gartner estimates that it will continue to decline in popularity.
The figures brought good news for Apple, however, which saw sales rise over 300%, making it the third largest vendor in the market.
Research in Motion also had a good quarter, with sales up over 80%. Gartner said that the BlackBerry Storm handset will boost sales and has the potential to be a major product for the Canadian firm.
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