iSuppli whipped out their calculators and pegged 2009 industry volumes at 1.15 billion units. That’s down less than 5% from the 1.2 billion of 2008. For an industry that has experienced nothing but growth since the first mobile phone came off the production line, last year was absolutely brutal.
This year is looking slightly better, iSuppli is predicting 1.3 billion units shipped, and it’s all due to the increased pace of sales between Q309 and Q409. Unit shipments between those two quarters alone jumped 15.5% from 290 million to 335 million. That’s expected due to the holidays.
Smartphone sales are projected to increase 35.5% this year, although no specific numerical target was given.