Americans Buying Fewer, More Expensive Cellphones

Cellphone sales dropped significantly in the U.S. last quarter, but Americans are spending more money on the phones they buy, led by the rapid rise of smartphones like RIM's (RIMM) BlackBerries.

Consumer cellphone unit sales dropped to 28 million units in Q2, down 13% year-over-year, according to research firm NPD Group. But higher average sales prices caused Q2 cellphone revenues to fall slower -- down 2% year-over-year to $2.4 billion.

The average phone cost $84, up 14% from Q2 2007, as more people bought QWERTY phones, 28% of the market vs. 12% a year ago; and smartphones, 19% of the market vs. 9% a year ago.

Note that these numbers don't include Apple's iPhone 3G, and only include Apple's (AAPL) old iPhone -- which was sold out for several weeks -- for part of the quarter. We expect average sales prices to jump even higher in Q3 and Q4.

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