<p>In addition to weaker consumer demand, the handset industry has also been hurt as retailers unwind large inventories of unsold phones following a drop in demand in late 2008.<br /><br />Gartner said retailers’ stocks fell by some 25 million phones in the quarter and said it expects destocking to continue in the April-June quarter, but at a lower pace.<br /><br />It repeated its forecast that cellphone sales to users would decrease about 4 percent in 2009 compared with 2008, while handset makers' production volumes would fall around 10 percent due to the inventory reduction.<br /><br />Sales of smartphones such as Apple Inc's iPhone grew 12.7 percent year-on-year in the quarter, the research firm said.</p>
<p>In addition to weaker consumer demand, the handset industry has also been hurt as retailers unwind large inventories of unsold phones following a drop in demand in late 2008.<br /><br />Gartner said retailers’ stocks fell by some 25 million phones in the quarter and said it expects destocking to continue in the April-June quarter, but at a lower pace.<br /><br />It repeated its forecast that cellphone sales to users would decrease about 4 percent in 2009 compared with 2008, while handset makers' production volumes would fall around 10 percent due to the inventory reduction.<br /><br />Sales of smartphones such as Apple Inc's iPhone grew 12.7 percent year-on-year in the quarter, the research firm said.</p>