The inexorable march of the mobile phone continues. According to the latest survey by the NPD Group, the U.S. saw a total of $3.2 billion in third quarter sales, an impressive 47 percent surge compared to a year ago. A good portion of that growth can actually be attributed to smartphone sales too, which accounted for 11 percent of total phone sales. In fact, NPD said that the total increase for smartphones sales was 163 percent.
"The mobile phone market is not only growing, it is growing smarter," said Ross Rubin, NPD's director of industry analysis in a Wednesday statement.
"The nearly threefold increase in smartphones shows that this once negligible niche is becoming a more influential force in the consumer market -- attracting entrants such as Apple and the Open Handset Alliance."
Rubin also said that while carriers continue to be the dominant distribution channel for mobile phones, mass merchants are starting to bring in a significant chunk of new customers as well.
As we move into next year, it will be interesting to see how (if at all) initiatives like the Google's OHA and Android continue to drive smartphones sales...or at least drive interest in the mobile phone subset. Of course, Americans have generally lagged behind the rest of the world in smartphone uptake primarily because we're used to getting our highly-subsidized phones on the cheap (or for free). That mindset, however, is starting to be challenged by the success of Apple's iPhone and other popular yet expensive handsets. And while the growing interest in smartphones is undoubtedly linked to emergence of more capable phones, let's not forget the role of 3-G network buildout. Who knows, by this time next year, some cities may even have a working WiMax network, which could do even more to boost smartphone sales. Personally, I'm not holding my breath on that one.
[Via EETimes]
Photo: Flickr/Sklathill
