NPD: Americans Buying Fewer Cell Phones

By Geoff Duncan August 19, 2008

It might seem that American culture is currently obsessed with everything mobile: mobile phones, mobile media, mobile advertising, and mobile connectivity. But that obsession might not be as strong as some people think: according to the NPD Group, sales of cell phone handsets during the second quarter of 2008 actually declined 13 percent, considered year-on-year.

“Quarterly unit-sales of handsets fell to their lowest level, since NPD begin tracking the category in 2005,” said NPD industry analysis director Ross Rubin, in a statement. “Even so, most major manufacturers picked up market share that was lost by Motorola.”

According to NPD, Motorola is still (just barely) the top-selling maker of cell phones in the U.S. market, accounting for 21 percent of all phones sold during the second quarter of the year. However, Samsung and LG both accounted for 20 percent of the market, with Nokia and RIm (makers of BlackBerry devices) coming in at nine and seven percent, respectively. Overall, NPD says 28 million handsets were sold during the quarter, accounting for $2.4 billion in revenue—down 2 percent since the second quarter of 2007.

NPDs numbers contradict an earlier analysis of Q2 2008 mobile phone sales figures from Strategy Analytics, which found mobile phone shipments grew 5.3 percent during the quarter. Both agree Motorola is still on top, and that RIM is on the rise—although Strategy Analytics credited the Canadian company with 11 percent of the U.S. market during the second quarter of the year.

NPD agrees with other analysts that sales of smartphones are on the rise. According to NPD, the number of phones with QWERTY keypads saw their largest year-on-year increase, with 28 percent of the handsets sold during the second quarter of 2008 having that feature, compared to just 12 percent the year before.

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