According to a report by research firm IDC, growth in the global market for mobile phones is set to slow to single digits from this year onward, after the market saw handset sales rise 11.6% last quarter. Despite the slower growth, handset sales set a record 300 million units for Q4 2007, more than any other 3-month period.

“Over the last three years, growth in the industry during the holiday quarter has fluctuated from 18% to 30%, and this past quarter, we saw it drop to 11.6%,” said Ryan Reith, a senior analyst with IDC, in the statement. “The expectation that the market would maintain the level of growth it saw over the last three years was unrealistic. We expect growth to be in the single digits throughout 2008, and most likely for years to follow.”

During 2007, 1.144 billion cell phones were sold worldwide, 12.4% more than a year earlier.