Mobile phone shipments take a tumble

MARKET WATCHERS at Isupply reckon global mobile-phone shipments fell in the first quarter of this year by some 12.8 per cent.

The revelation may not have phone firms crying into their Cristal as this often happens after Christmas, apparently.

Isupply reckons about 253 million handsets were shipped in the period, down from 290.1 million in Q4 2006.

Of the top five phone makers, only Samsung managed to up sales, posting a 9.1 per cent increase in shipments to 34.8 million units - up from 31.9 million in Q4 2006. µ