38.1 million people bought a smartphone during the fourth quarter of 2008, according to research from Gartner - just 3.7 per cent more than in Q4 2007.

"After a strong third quarter with new product introductions, sequential growth slowed down again in the fourth quarter as fewer compelling new products and the worsened economic climate continued to make data plans associated with smartphones out of reach for most consumers," says research director Roberta Cozza.

The stats make sobering reading for mobile games publishers, who see the growth of smartphones as key to their own growth in 2009 and beyond.

Gartner's figures claim that smartphones accounted for 12 per cent of all mobile handset sales in Q4 2008, compared to 11 per cent in Q4 2007.

In terms of individual companies' market share, Nokia was still top dog with 40.8 per cent of smartphone sales in Q4, followed by Research In Motion (19.5 per cent) and Apple (10.7 per cent).

That's pause for thought for Nokia, given that in Q4 2007, the respective market shares were 50.9 per cent, 10.9 per cent and 5.2 per cent.

According to Gartner, Nokia's Q4 2008 smartphone sales were down 16.8 per cent year-on-year.

We wonder if its variable relationships with operators may be part of the cause - just yesterday, T-Mobile was talking about how it's been migrating N95 users to Android G1 handsets, for example.

Full details of Gartner's stats for Q4 and the full-year 2008 can be found here.