Mobile phone market is out of recession

Mobile phone shipments grew by 10% year-over-year, to reach 324 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Strategy Analytics. This was a return to growth in the mobile phone market after a recession which had lasted more than a year. “This signals an end to the industry’s recession which first began during Q4 2008 and lasted for four quarters,” said Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics. There are signs that mobile operators and handset vendors are steadily regaining confidence. Samsung shipped a record 69.0 million handsets worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2009, up an above-average 31% from 52.8 million units a year earlier.