With the advent of Apple's iPhone 3G, HTC's Android-based G1, and a lot of other smartphones, 2008 might look on the surface like a good year for this particular genre of mobile device. But that's only a half-truth, says a report released today by the ABI Research analyst group.

Smartphones sailed along for the first six months of 2008 with a 14% year-over-year (YOY) growth rate. But in the third quarter -- the months from July through September -- sales slowed to 8%. Then, in the fourth quarter, the statistics sank straight into the red, amounting to a 10% loss YOY.

And while smartphones rang out the year with a 5.4% annual growth rate, that number didn't at all measure up to the 16% annual growth of 2007.

In a statement, an ABI Research analyst attributed the reason for the phone slump to fear. "Sheer fear sapped the confidence of consumers, enterprises and corporate users across the board," elaborated Jake Saunders, ABI's Asia-Pacific vice president.