Worldwide Mobile Phone Market Grows 14.3% : IDC

Do you think there’s a lot of mobile phone marketing going on now? Wait until you see the near future.

Following a busy holiday quarter, the worldwide market experienced an expected sequential downturn in shipments due to the current economic climate.

But year-to-year, there’s been a significant growth in the number handsets in circulation, which can only mean far more promotional activities with those phones.

According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 291.6 million units during the first quarter of 2008 (1Q08), down 11.6% from the 330.8 million units shipped during the previous quarter (4Q07) and up 14.3% from the 255 million units shipped during 1Q07.

“The mobile phone market will be under increased pressure from a number of factors that compete for users’ attention and wallets,” said Ramon T. Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Device Technology and Trends team, in a statement.

The top five vendors globally (in descending order) are Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, LG Electronics, and Sony Ericsson.