For First Time Since 2009, Global Cell Phone Sales Drop

[zakislam]

Sales reached 1.75 billion in 2012, a 1.7 percent decrease from 2011.

For First Time Since 2009, Global Cell Phone Sales Drop : Read more

 

[apache_lives]

im waiting for my contract to end to get a Windows 8 phone

 

[twelve25]

They are cranking out literally a BILLION phones a year now. Certainly the market has to saturate at some point.

 

[m32]

Makes you wonder where all the batteries (for phones that are obsolete) are at?

 

[twelve25]

[citation][nom]m32[/nom]Makes you wonder where all the batteries (for phones that are obsolete) are at?[/citation]

They are supposed to get recycled, but I'd bet half just get tossed into the dump. We'll be drinking traces of them before long.

 

[stickmansam]

Why would market competition decrease shipments?

there are only so many people who need phones and we all don't upgrade very year...

 

[Guest]

"Why would market competition decrease shipments?"

Paradox of choice. Given a choice between two or three types of a good, people will gladly pick something, but given a choice between hundreds of types of a good with conflicting and confusing features, people either buy randomly or won't buy at all.

 

[ojas]

OH NO SMARTPHONES ARE DEAD! THE POST SMARTPHONE ERA IS UPON US!

 

[devBunny]

[citation][nom]Xperia dont h8 the cabbage[/nom]"Why would market competition decrease shipments?"Paradox of choice. Given a choice between two or three types of a good, people will gladly pick something, but given a choice between hundreds of types of a good with conflicting and confusing features, people either buy randomly or won't buy at all.[/citation]

And then there are the obsessive/compulsives who will buy, eventually, it's just that by the time they've sorted out all the features and made up the short lists, there's a bunch of new versions to be factored out. ;o)

 

[Guest]

Of course it's settling down, EVERYONE HAS A PHONE ALREADY.

Just like where the desktop PC was in the mid 00's, the cell phone market is now at that stage where they have to cater to people that already have a phone.

 

[virtualban]

[citation][nom]ojas[/nom]OH NO SMARTPHONES ARE DEAD! THE POST SMARTPHONE ERA IS UPON US![/citation]
Excellent call, hahaha

 

[jacobdrj]

[citation][nom]virtualban[/nom]Excellent call, hahaha[/citation]
It is! The era of the phablet is in full force!

 

[velocityg4]

[citation][nom]Twelve25[/nom]They are supposed to get recycled, but I'd bet half just get tossed into the dump. We'll be drinking traces of them before long.[/citation]
I'd bet that figure is closer to 95%. The only way batteries or electronics will get recycled is if we can just toss them in our recycling container. Very few people are willing to drive to some special place for recycling and pay when they get there.

Heck the gas I would use on a forty five plus minute round trip would probably cause more harm to the global environment then tossing the cell phone battery. Right now I have five busted computers, two CRT TVs and other miscellaneous electronics that I have no idea what to do with. I'm not about to spend $20 to $30 a pop to recycle them. Nor do I want to send them off to a landfill so they just sit around taking up space. I also have a bunch of old lithium batteries.

 

[captaincharisma]

i guess people just got tired of being roped into 3 year contracts

 

[ipwn3r456]

Of course this will happen. Like everyone said above, everyone already have a phone. Not everyone is going to buy a phone every single year.