A report made by research company Gartner intimates that the sale of mobile phones may well continue to suffer well into 2010 and claims global sales dropped 9.4 percent in Q1 of 09, and Gartner predicts demand may not pick up until the 2nd half of 2010.

According to the article on pcpro, this is grim news considering analysts have suggested that the April to June quarter may well be the worst with mobile phone sales expected to drop some 14.5 percent.

There is a bright spot in all the gloom though as 36.4 million smartphone sold during Q1 which is up 12.7 percent from the previous 1st quarter. Gartner does expect smartphone business to continue to grow as the likes of Apple, RIM, Palm and Nokia all bring out new hardware.