IDC: This year's global smartphone market growth will hit a three-year low

According to foreign media reports, according to foreign media reports, the latest data released by IDC shows that while smartphone shipments during the holiday sales season are expected to hit a new high, it is expected that the global mobile phone market will grow by only 1.4% in 2012, the lowest annual rate in three years Growth level.

IDC said that mobile phone shipments will exceed 1.7 billion units this year; boosted by strong consumer demand, global smartphone shipments are expected to reach 224.5 million units in the fourth quarter, an increase of 40% over the same period last year.

This year, smart phone shipments are expected to increase by 45% from the previous year to 771.5 million. IDC said that the strong growth in smartphone sales has benefited from a number of factors, including high equipment subsidies from operators, especially mature market operators, and an increase in sales of smartphones under $250 in emerging markets.

IDC expects that the Android operating system will become the absolute leader in smartphone operating systems, thanks in large part to the fact that many of the system’s partners are able to provide a variety of mobile phones that use the system, but at the same time It is easy to target other operating systems when they compete for market share.

The company expects that Apple's (AAPL) iOS operating system will still occupy the second position in the industry by the end of this year and throughout the forecast period.

IDC expects RIM's BlackBerry operating system to grow slowly, but after the BlackBerry 10 is launched next year, the operating system will roughly maintain its current market share in the next few years.