Mobile phone sales are on the up again and Europe is one of the regions back on the growth curve, according to market analyst International Data Corporation (IDC).
Global mobile phone sales grew by 21.7% in the first quarter of 2010. A year ago the handset market was going in the other direction.
So the sitiuation has turned around and the main driver now seems to be sales of smartphones.
“The market's growth should not be taken as a proxy for future quarters nor annual growth. In fact, the results essentially match our first quarter projections. We are still expecting growth of 11% for 2010,” said IDC.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 294.9 million units in the first quarter of 2010 compared to 242.4 million units in the first quarter of 2009.
One beneficiary of the growing demand for smartphones was Research In Motion (RIM) which moved into the top 5 vendor rankings for the first time.
RIM, which makes the Blackberry, replaced Motorola in the top 5.