NEW YORK, Feb 3 — Consumer demand for feature phones is slowing. People are making the switch to high-powered smartphones that can connect to the internet and can be filled with apps.

Affordable feature phones still account for a majority of all mobile phone shipments but their time at the top of the mobile market is slowly coming to an end.

“Feature phones accounted for a majority of shipments from four of the five market leaders during the quarter,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team in a report published on February 1. “Even though their proportion is eroding, feature phones maintain their appeal on the basis of price and ease of use.”

Feature phone makers are attempting to entice would-be smartphone buyers with cheaper handsets that are more capable.

“To meet the challenge, feature phones are becoming more like smartphones, incorporating mobile Internet and third-party applications. While this may not stem the smartphone tide, it should slow down the rate at which smartphones are selected over feature phones,” said Llamas.

According to a January 27 article in Forbes, feature phones have become more profitable for vendors than mid-tear smartphones.

Overall the global mobile phone market grew 6.1 per cent year over year during the fourth quarter of 2011 — its lowest growth rate in over two years. Declining feature phone sales were mostly to blame for the slower growth period said market analyst IDC while high-profile smartphones including as the iPhone 4S propped up the smartphone market during Q4.

Smartphone makers shipped 427.4 million units in 4Q11, up from 402.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010.

In North America, high-end Android-based LTE-enabled smartphones from HTC, LG, Motorola, and Samsung made important gains while in Latin America sub-US$200 (RM602) Android smartphones and low-cost feature phones ruled the market.

The iPhone 4S was well received in Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan said IDC. In China local vendors including Huawei, Lenovo and Coolpad shipped large numbers of mid-range Android devices.

The launch of the iPhone 4S in the fourth quarter of 2011 saw Apple more than double its market share year over year, overtaking LG Electronics to become the world’s third largest mobile phone manufacturer.

Top 5 mobile phone vendors by market share in 4Q11

Nokia — 26.6 per cent

Samsung — 22.8 per cent

Apple — 8.7 per cent

LG Electronics — 4.1 per cent

ZTE — 4.0 per cent

Others — 33.8 per cent

Top 5 mobile phone vendors by market share for the calendar year 2011

Nokia — 27.0 per cent

Samsung — 21.3 per cent

Apple — 6.0 per cent

LG Electronics —5.7 per cent

ZTE — 4.3 per cent

Others — 35.7 per cent — AFP/Relaxnews