Global mobile phone shipments fell 10% year over year, reaching 295 million units in the fourth quarter, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics. That means the economic downturn caused the industry’s slowest growth rate since 2001.

Retailers have been de-stocking due to credit tightness, while consumers delayed purchases because of fears of a recession, explained senior analyst Bonny Joy in a press release.

Three of the big five cell phone vendors recorded negative annual growth rates in the fourth quarter, added Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics. Motorola declined 54%; Sony Ericsson 21%; and Nokia 15%.

Other findings from Strategy Analytics’ report include:

• Samsung performed best among the big five vendors during the fourth quarter, reaching 17.9% market share.
• Apple shipped a lower-than-expected 4.4 million iPhones worldwide in the fourth quarter. 
• Nokia can still claim 39.8% global market share for all of 2008, while Motorola was at a mere 8.5%. Samsung came in second worldwide for the year, with a 16.7% share. LG had 8.6%.