Mobile phone handset shipments to Australia in January 2010 were 9% lower than the same period in 2009, according to the latest official industry figures.

The Informark figures recorded 483,539 shipments in January – the first fall in shipments in three months. The January 2010 figures compared to 531,250 for the same month last year.

CommSec in its economic Insights bulletin today said: “Mobile phone sales hit the wall”. It then posed the question had mobile phones become a mature product and was the Australian market reaching a saturation point?

AMTA Chief Executive Officer Chris Althaus said it would be premature to place too much emphasis on one month’s figures. It was important to take account of a changing seasonal pattern in mobile phone shipments.

For instance, the December 2009 shipment figures were 726,939, which were up 20.7% from 602,371 in December 2008.

“Perhaps, it comes as little surprise that this January’s figure is down compared to January 2009 because the preceding month of December 2009 was the highest December figure on record and this month’s fall is from a high base,” Mr Althaus said. “Let’s wait and see what happens next month.”

Mobile shipments and sales were one measure of the direct economic impact of mobile telecommunications, however, as Access Economic has pointed out this industry “punches above its weight” because the economic benefits created by the industry are far greater than the resources it draws from the economy.

According to the Access Economics figures in 2008, the direct contribution to the Australian economy was $6.5 billion and the indirect or flow-on benefits were $7.7 billion.

Mr Althaus said: “Although mobile telecommunications are not divorced from economic conditions, it’s clear that they are a modern day essential that are delivering convenience, productivity, peace of mind and security to the community,” he said.

“Mobile telecommunications have also become central to Australia’s capacity to compete in the global marketplace via the capacity to drive productivity gains in the digital economy and its capacity to meet the connectivity needs of governments, services, businesses, communities, families and individuals.

“Australia cannot sustain strong economic growth unless it lifts its productive capacity and it cannot sustain ongoing improvements in living standards unless productivity growth improves. And a key enabler of productivity gains is mobile telecommunications

 The shipment figures can be viewed here.