Cell Phone Shipments Up For First Time In Nine Months


The cell phone market rose in the second quarter for the first time since the third quarter of last year.

The modest rise – 4.7 percent from the first quarter, according to iSuppli – suggests that the mobile business hit a bottom in the past quarter and has begun a slow upswing.

Vendors shipped 265 million phones, up from 253 in the first quarter. Shipments were down 16 percent in the first quarter and 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter.

ISuppli says it expects a larger 6 percent rise in the third quarter and an 8.3 percent rise in the fourth quarter. For all of 2009, sales will be down almost 10 percent from 2008.

Lifting sales in the second quarter was strength in the emerging markets of the Middle East and Latin America. Promotional campaigns helped business in North America.