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May 05, 2014

Mobile Phone Shipments in Q1 Of 2014 Shoot To 408 Million Units

The popularity of smartphones can’t be debated at this point.  A report from Strategy Analytics underlines just how popular mobile phones have become around the world with the announcement that worldwide mobile phone shipments will hit more than 408 million units in the first quarter of 2014.

The number of shipments per year going out has been going up for quite a while now, but the 408 milion units shipped in the first quarter of this year is a nine percent increase over the same time period a year ago. The report follows one by IDC which claims the planet earth has just seen its one-billionth smartphone sold when January came to a close.

Scott Bicheno, the senior analyst for Strategy Analytics spelled out what the new report means for the mobile phone market in a statement issued alongside the report. "Global mobile phone shipments grew 9 percent annually from 372.7 million units in Q1 2013 to 407.9 million in Q1 2014. Smartphones accounted for 7 in 10 of total mobile phone shipments during the quarter. The 9 percent growth rate of the overall mobile phone market is at its highest level since 2011, driven by healthier demand for 4G and 3G models across Asia, Africa and elsewhere."

Mobile phones aren’t the only devices growing in popularity on a global scale. It wasn’t that long ago Gartner was talking about the massive jump in popularity tablets saw in 2013 compared to 2012. The industry analysis company said tablet shipments last year increased by a whopping 53.4 percent worldwide.

Mobile devices are reaping the benefit of cheaper prices across the board, as well as the obvious bonus of portability. The increase in popularity, both when talking about mobile phones and tablets is bad news for the desktop and laptop computer industry which continues to struggle.




Edited by Maurice Nagle


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