Mobile Phone Retail Sales Returned to Growth in First Half: NPD

NPD added the mobile phone category to its U.S. point-of-sale retail tracking service, noting sales through national retailers returned to growth in 2021's first half, after declining in 2019 and 2020, said the company Wednesday. January-to-June cellphone sales rose 2% year over year, down 6% for the first half of 2020 and down 12% for the first half of 2019, it said. “The mobile phone landscape is saturated, and consumers face less choice and fewer reasons to trade up,” said Ian Hamilton, president-tech sector. Growth returned in the first half “due to pent-up demand from the pandemic,” said analyst Brad Akyuz. Further growth is expected “as a result of expanding product and service offerings through new carrier partnerships,” he said.