Messaging on the move

By Nick Arnold

Latest figures show the smartphone sales topped 54 million in 2009, a 39% growth on 2008.

It seems having access to your email on the move is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. Whether it is for business users being kept up to date when out of the office, or consumer users who need to make plans with friends on the move, being able to communicate electronically from anywhere in the world is essential.

While general handset sales for 2009 grew from 2008 figures, the rise of 15.1% pales in comparison to smartphone sales with all manufacturers recording increases in sales.

However, some manufacturers are bigger winners than others. In Q4 alone Apple showed an increase of 97% (shipping 8.7 million units) on Q4 2008, RIM increased 40.8% (10.7 million units) and Nokia increased 37.7% (20.8 million units shipped).

Despite this, HTC – the manufacturer behind many of the Windows Mobile enabled phones – saw an increase of only 0.2 million device sales between Q4 2008 and Q4 2009, from 2.2 million to 2.4 million.

While the requirement for email on the move is partly responsible for the increase in sales, the massive growth of social networking websites, for both businesses and consumers, has also played a major part.