Mobile Growth - End in Sight?

The cellphone industry has seen phenomenal growth over the years. There are over 6 billion people on Earth that own mobile phones for both personal and professional use. But at what point does this market's growth taper off? Exponential growth year over year is not sustainable, and some of the recent earnings statements are highlighting the growth's end is near.Motorola recently announced their 4th quarter earnings and sales were $7.14 billion, down 26 percent from $9.65 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007. One could point the finger of blame at the economy, but perhaps a bigger issue is at hand: market saturation.Smart phones enable a new way of communication beyond voice. The Web and SMS are now part of the cellular industry and remain an integral way to exchange data. New data applications will create new revenue streams for the industry, but the explosive growth we've seen the last 5 years is slowing down. Handset manufacturers can't rely on consumers and enterprise users to continually upgrade to a more expensive model.For more insight into this downturn, take a peek at this New York Times article.

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