According to a forecast released Wednesday by IDC, 1.8 billion mobile phones will be shipped around the world this year. That's a four-percent increase over 2011, but the lowest increase since 2009.

IDC pegs the growth slowdown to reductions in shipments of "feature phones"--industry jargon for anything that isn't a smartphone.

Shipments of feature phones--which represent more than 61 percent of total shipments--will decline by 10 percent this year, IDC said. Many owners of the talk-and-text devices are holding on to their old mobiles because they're concerned about , it explained.

By contrast, smartphone shipments continue to burn chrome. IDC predicted smartphones will grow by 38.8 percent this year, to 686 million. Those shipments are being driven by factors such as high carrier subsidies, falling average selling prices and component costs, increased awareness and device diversity, and lower-cost data plans among.

"The smartphone parade won’t be as lively this year as it has been in the past," said IDC Senior Research Analyst Kevin Restivo said in a statement. "The mobile phone user transition from feature phones to smartphones will continue in a gradual but unabated fashion."