Manufacturers have been careful with their handset orders for the remainder of this year and the start of 2010.

It comes after Nokia, the leading phone manufacturer in the world by some distance, said it expected global shipments to be down 10% year on year.

Many phone manufacturers had been severely affected with unsold handsets after the demand turned sour, undershooting even the most conservative forecasts for the second half of 2008 and the start of 2009.

Most manufacturers are also understood to be outsourcing some of their component and manufacturing capabilities to third parties to remain flexible during the turbulent period.

One source close to the matter said: ‘All the manufacturers are saying “we ‘re not going to be hung out to dry with inventory”.’

Samsung is apparently the most bullish of the main manufacturers, recently increasing its orders on the back of positive expectations of its roadmap and what it sees as excessive pessimism in the market.

Another source said: ‘Samsung are saying there is too much tightness in forecasting, and there will be under supply. They want to pick up the slack.’