Analysts Cast Doubt on Nokia's Mobile Growth Prediction - Yahoo! News

Analysts Cast Doubt on Nokia's Mobile Growth Prediction - Yahoo! News: "Peter Sayer, IDG News Service Fri Jan 25, 9:00 AM ET

Analysts at IDC predict annual growth in mobile phone sales will drop below 10 percent this year, casting doubt on Nokia's more upbeat outlook for 2008.

Nokia and the analysts both put the number of phones sold in 2007 at around 1.14 billion, or 12.4 percent more than were sold in 2006, according to IDC.

But it's unrealistic to expect that growth to continue, IDC analysts said in a report published Friday.

'We expect growth to be in the single digits throughout 2008, and most likely for years to follow,' they wrote.

On Thursday, Nokia had issued a more upbeat prediction, of 10 percent growth in mobile phone shipments in 2008-- and bullishly predicted that its share will increase beyond the 40 percent of the market it claimed for the fourth quarter."