Smartphone shipments rose 61% worldwide in 2011, report says

Global smartphone shipments grew massively last year as mobile handsets increased in capability and were made available at lower prices, according to International Data Corp.'s latest Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker quarterly report.

In 2011, smartphone shipments rocketed 61.3% from 2010's total. "On a full-year basis, total smartphone shipment volumes reached 491.4 million units in 2011," up from 304.7 million phones shipped in 2010, the report said. This was higher than IDC's estimate of 54.7% for the year, but still below 2010's year-over-year growth of 75.7%, the research firm said. "Although this marks a slowdown from 2010, IDC still fully expects continued double-digit growth for the foreseeable future." In the last three months of the year, smartphone shipments grew 54.7% from the same period in 2010, the report said.