Gartner: Mobile phone demand does not recover until the second half of next year

Beijing time May 20 Evening news, according to foreign media reports, Gartner Wednesday forecast that the second half of 2010 before the demand for mobile phones will not recover. Gartner said the handset market fell 9.4% in the first quarter of this year, although demand has stabilized but will only grow again next year. "We don't expect mobile phone demand to grow until the second half of next year," said Carolina Milanesi, Gartner analyst at Na Milanissi. Analysts generally expect handset sales to fall 14.5% in the second quarter and 10.3% in 2009. But some analysts believe that the worst of the handset industry is over, and that the decline in handset sales in the first quarter was linked to a retailer's inventory cleanup. Market research firm CCS Insight said handset makers ' handset sales fell 14.3% in the first quarter.　　Gartner said retail handset inventories in the first quarter had fallen by about 25 million, and that inventories were expected to be reduced by 10 million to 12 million in the second quarter. Jeff Blamber Geoff Blaber, an analyst at CCS Insight, said, "although inventories have been reduced, there has not been a clear signal of growth in consumer demand." Tero Kuittinen, an investment firm Trow Kutinin Capital analyst, said handset sales were expected to grow by 5% in the second quarter, but mainly in relation to inventory changes. (Zhi Xiang)