US Consumers Buying Fewer but Fancier Phones

U.S. consumers have been buying significantly fewer cell phones but paying higher prices for them, according to a research firm. The NPD Group said in a report Tuesday that 28 million cell phones were sold in the United States in the second quarter, a decline of 13 percent from the same period a year ago. It was the third quarter in a row with a year-over-year decline, and the lowest number of phones sold since NPD began tracking the category in 2005, said Ross Rubin, the firm’s director of industry analysis.