Research firm Gartner today raised the growth expectations for the global handset market that it made just two month ago. Now, the firm predicts the market will grow between 11 percent and 13 percent this year--up from a December estimate of nine percent growth. That growth is a relief for the companies that had to work through the one percent decline Gartner recorded for the space last year.

"The economy seems to be stabilizing more into a recovery trend than we forecast back in December," Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi told Reuters. "Sales will return to low-double-digit growth, but competition will continue to put a strain on vendors' margins." Smartphone sales are expected to surge 46 percent this year, and though average selling prices are expected to fall, the rate of decline will be slower in 2010 than in 2009.