Cell phone shipments fall 0.4 percent in 3Q

NEW YORK - The usual pre-holiday ramp-up in cell phone shipments didn't happen this year because of the feeble global economy, a research firm said Thursday.

Manufacturers shipped 299 million phones in the July-September period, down 0.4 percent from the second quarter, according to IDC. The third quarter normally sees a rise in shipments, as stores stock up ahead of the holidays.

Shipments still grew 3.2 percent compared to last year. But as cell phones have become a global must-have in the last few years, it has been more common to see growth rates of up to 20 percent.

Sony Ericsson unseated Motorola Inc. as the third-largest cell phone manufacturer, with 8.6 percent share of the market. Motorola had 8.5 percent.

Sony Ericsson also leapfrogged LG Electronics Inc., pushing it down to No. 5 slot.

Nokia Corp. remained the top cell phone maker, with 39.4 percent share, according to IDC. (Nokia's own figure is 38 percent.) It is followed by Samsung Electronics Co., with 17.3 percent by IDC's count.

Motorola announced Thursday that it would trim its product portfolio and focus its designs on the Americas and China instead of Europe. It also delayed the spin-off of its handset unit, which was expected to happen in the third quarter next year.

Another firm, ABI Research, also weighed in Thursday with slightly different numbers. It said third-quarter shipments rose 8.2 percent from a year ago.

The firms agreed that "smart" phones were the hot category in the quarter, electrified by the introduction of a new iPhone from Apple Inc. Smart phones are suddenly the devices sought by both seasoned and first-time users, said IDC analyst Ramon Llamas. In North America in particular, smart phones from Apple, Palm Inc. and BlackBerrys from Research In Motion Ltd. did far better than conventional phones.

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