According to the company's telecommunications associate analyst, Chua Fong Yang, IDC's second quarter, 2008, Asia Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker study showed that total mobile and handheld units, excluding parallel imports, would grow by 2.3 per cent in 2008, to reach 4.8 million units.

Chua attributed the slow forecast to creeping inflation and the petrol price increase in June 2008. "The demand for traditional mobile phones slowed down immediately after the Malaysia government announced the 40 per cent increase in petrol price. Phones with a lower price band are particularly impacted as people are prioritising their purchases due to the rising prices of necessity goods."

Still optimistic about the longer term: mobile number portability

Chua said that, however, the country's mobile subscriber base is expected to grow by 10.1 per cent. He was optimistic that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for mobile phone and handheld units' shipment in Malaysia would reach 5.3 per cent over the next five years, reaching 6.0 million units by 2012.

IDC's study predicted that over the next five years, the growth of converged mobile phones in Malaysia would outpace the growth of traditional mobile phones, he said.