Mobile market slows but smartphones boom, says analyst

Growth fell to 13 per cent in the third quarter, down from 16 per cent in the first half of 2010

The smartphone market continues to boom, despite component shortages

Growth in the mobile phone market fell to 13 per cent in the third quarter of 2010 compared with 16 per cent in the first half of 2010, according to analyst firm Strategy Analytics.

The firm also stated that growth could fall further to 10 per cent in the current quarter.

The slowdown is thought to be the result of both the recession and component shortages faced by certain manufacturers, with Nokia and Sony Ericsson being the worst affected.

Earlier this year IT research firm IDC said that 270 million smartphones would be sold in 2010, up 55 per cent from last year.

It is widely thought that the high volume of sales of both smartphones and tablet devices is causing the component shortages for traditional mobile phones.