U.S. cell phone sales plummet in 2008
Tue May 20, 2008 11:18AM EDT
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The economy's in such a sorry state that people are postponing or foregoing altogether the purchase of a new cellular telephone, according to research from the market analysts at The NPD Group. The grim research says that domestic cell phone sales declined a whopping 22 percent in the first quarter vs. Q1 of 2007, a monumental decline.
Revenues for those phone sales are a little better, reflecting only a 7 percent decline and indicating that while fewer phones are being sold, at least they're being sold at modestly higher prices.
In ranking the top five manufacturers in Q1, some surprises are evident. First: Apple's not on the list. Second: RIM (maker of the BlackBerry) is, improving its station to #5, with a full 5 percent market share. That's not bad considering the BlackBerry's reputation as a corporate device with limited consumer-level appeal. (Perhaps the hot new BlackBerry products coming later this year will increase that share even further.) In fact, if there's one bright spot in the report, it's smart phones, which now consume a full 17 percent of cell phone sales vs. just 10 percent a year ago.
Perennial leader Motorola maintains its lead as the #1 phone seller in the U.S., despite its much-publicized corporate troubles. Samsung, LG, and Nokia round out the top five along with RIM.
Will Apple's new iPhone change the picture considerably, or will the worsening economy continue to drag down the cellular sector? I'm hoping for the best but, as usual, preparing for the worst.
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Comments on U.S. cell phone sales plummet in 2008
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7 Posted by rogueist on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:49PM EDT Report Abuse
Everyone is locked into 2 year contracts - except people like me who buy their phones outright. So, with that in mind - what did the carriers expect? Last year and the year before were banner cellphone sales for the US. Nobody is upgrading right now. Next year the sales will increase again. They need to stop subsidizing the phones, and stop sales of phones thru the carriers. The phones need to be sold in boxes and blister packs on normal store shelves.
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8 Posted by grahamja2 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:12PM EDT Report Abuse
I think to a certatain extent that cell phone purchases have slowed down because now nearly everyone has acell phone inculding most children. Another thing is how can they say this study is c orrect if they did not include iPhones. Is an iPhone not a phone? Reportedly they have sold 1,119,00 units so far. Would that not make a difference in the figures. I hate when we get these half##### studies that do not prove a thing when all the info is not provided. It does not take a genious to figure out without all the infomation ITS WRONG!
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9 Posted by ferguson1606 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:59PM EDT Report Abuse
reread the post... iPhones were not excluded from the study. Anyways, not a suprising find considering the ammount of high tech high cost phones that have been sold recently.
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10 Posted by poisonous43 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:16PM EDT Report Abuse
I'VE HAD SPRINT FOR 6 YEARS NOW THEY HAD TRIIED NUMEROUS TIME TO DOUBLE CHARE ME, I CHECK MY BILL AND I CAN NO LONGER HAVE A FULL CONVERSATION BECAUSE OF DROPPED CALLS I CAN'T EVEN TALK IN MY HOUSE OR CAR IT'S ALWAYS LOSING MY CALLS. WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?
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11 Posted by alioninwinter2000 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:50PM EDT Report Abuse
I've bee a sprint customer for about 8 years now...remember 1000 minuets for a measely 99$ LOL I'm quite satisfied with them myself..enough so to have signed a new 2 year agreement so that I could upgrade my phone to an LG Roumor for just 40$ :)
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12 Posted by ericarulz1369 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:55PM EDT Report Abuse
Razrs are good phones! Mine has lasted 2 years and that's the longest I've ever had a phone! And I'm hard on them. Screw upgrades, this one works just great. :-)
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13 Posted by greggscabanna on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:12PM EDT Report Abuse
Could be that intelligent people are fed up with the hipe of Cell-phones and would like their privacy back
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14 Posted by kitesurfgoldfish on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:52PM EDT Report Abuse
i thought this might be a good indicator of the economy! instead of lipstick sales??? Who needs a cell phone when 20 years ago only Dr's and Lawyers could afford them anyways..after working for 4 cell carriers (cellular one, cingular, nextel, cricket) and few more that have come and gone... in the last 20 years I've seen it all! Right now I really love my Virgin Mobile I can change the plan when I want and go as low as 60 per year...for a woman to have an emergency phone in the glove box that's a winner, winner and a chicken dinner! NO contract and cutie pie phones! I'm not biased I'm just saying...
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15 Posted by coldwater_kitties02 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse
I have Tracfone and I buy minutes and my member ship once a year with no monthly fees and I love it. I use the phone for emergencies only and do not give my number to anyone except family and close friends. This works for me.
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16 Posted by mmysok on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:24PM EDT Report Abuse
Maybe this will open the eyes of the manufacturers to sell open-line or unlocked phones with cdma and gsm support. Create the "work anywhere" phone and i would definately buy it. I imagine many people who travel around different places in the world would to. Just a suggestion.
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6 Posted by michael_w_anderson on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:18PM EDT Report Abuse
I let my two year contract expire last Nov. and now just go month to month. Didn't really need or want a new phone. The one I have still works just fine and I don't want all the bells and whistles. Feels great not to be tied into a contract.