Eight mobile technologies to watch

Research company Gartner has published a list of eight mobile technologies that it says will have an impact on mobile strategies and policies over the next couple of years:

1. Bluetooth 3.0,
2. User Interfaces,
3. Location Sensing,
4. 802.11n WiFi,
5. Display Technologies,
6. Mobile Web and Widgets,
7. Mobile Broadband and
8. Near Field Communication.

[Press release]

Smartphone sales slowing

Research and advisory company Gartner says smartphone sales have slowed to their lowest year-on-year growth rate since it started tracking the industry. 36.5 million smartphones were sold to end-users worldwide in the third quarter of 2008, which is an 11.5% increase from the same period in 2007. Nokia maintained its market leadership with 42.4% of market share - down 3% from 2007 - with RIM and Apple taking second and third place respectively. [Press release]

Smartphone sales up 15.7%

Researchers at Gartner say worldwide sales of smartphones in the second quarter of 2008 reached 32.2 million units, which is an increase of 15.7% on the same quarter last year, although year-on-year growth rates are slowing down. Western Europe saw a 29.3% quarterly increase, while Nokia maintained its sector leadership with a 47.5% market share. [Report; press release]

Mobile advertising worth over $12 billion by 2011

Mobile advertising will be worth over $12 billion by 2011, according to new research from Gartner. They also say that networks need to work hard to win their share of this money because there's fierce competition from device manufacturers and internet companies. [Press release]

Mobile phone sales to grow 11% in 2008

Worldwide mobile phone sales are expected to increase 11% in 2008, reaching 1.28 billion units, according to figures from researchers at Gartner. Mobile phone sales in Western Europe are forecast to reach 188 million units, up 1.5%, compared with the Asia/Pacific region where sales are predicted to reach 472.5 million in 2008, a 17.9% increase from 2007. Japan is expected to experience a drop in sales of 9.1%. [Press release]

Mobile gaming revenue up 16.1% in 2008

Revenue from mobile gaming this year is expected to be over 16% higher than last year's figures according to research firm Gartner. It reckons worldwide revenue will continue growing by an average 10% per year between now and 2011.Figures for Western Europe market are expected to increase from $701 million in 2008 to $862 million (£434 million) by 2011. [Press release]

Worldwide mobile sales up but Western Europe is down

Researchers at Gartner say that mobile phone sales were up 13.6% in the first quarter of 2008, although figures in Western Europe were down - which is the first time this has happened since Gartner began tracking in 2001. Worldwide sales reached 294.3 million handsets in Q1 2008, although quarterly sales of mobile phones in Western Europe were down 16.4% year-on-year. Nokia's market share slipped slightly to 39.1%, Samsung held on to the number 2 position with 14.4%, while Motorola's share slipped to 10.2%, keeping it in third place. [Press release]

Mobiles aren't designed for the right people

Most mobile phones are designed for western adult men aged 20 to 64, which means over two-thirds of the world's population aren't being catered for. That's the opinion of researchers at Gartner, who say mobile manufacturers should pay more attention to the remaining 68% of the world. They say mobile products need to evolve and address gender diversity and demographics. [Press release]

Mobile ad revenue to increase by 59% in next 12 months

Analysts at Gartner say that revenues from mobile advertising will jump by $1 million between 2007 and 2008 (from $1.7 million to $2.7 million). However, they also say the industry has developed slowly and is approaching a 'make or break' point. It's a subject we'll be talking about in tomorrow's Mobile News podcast. [Sources: Telecoms.com, Cellular-News.com]

Worldwide mobile sales up 16% in 2007

Research company Gartner says worldwide sales of mobile phones to end-users exceeded 1.15 billion units in 2007, a 16% per cent increase from 2006. People in emerging markets buying their first phone, particularly in China and India, provided much of the growth. Sales in 2008 are expected to continue increasing but at a reduced rate of 10%. Nokia ended 2007 as the leading global manufacturer, achieving 40% of sales in Q4 and 37.8% for the entire year. [Press release]

2.3 trillion texts predicted for 2008

Researchers at Gartner reckon that 2.3 trillion messages will be sent worldwide in 2008, almost a 20% increase from this year's total of 1.9 trillion messages. Revenue from these messages will grow by 15.7% in 2008 to $60.2 billion (£30.4 billion). Western Europe is expected to send 215 billion of those messages - up from 202 billion in 2007.