Smart-Phone Calling

But will customers answer the call?

This was supposed to be the year of the smart phone. Phone makers planned plenty of high-profile launches like the iPhone 3G and T-Mobile G1 to tempt data-hungry consumers.

The carriers are doing their best. Tuesday brought LG Electronics' first U.S. smart phone to AT&T. On Friday, the long-awaited BlackBerry Storm goes on sale at Verizon (nyse: VZ - news - people ). 

But with the economy swooning, consumers may not show up for the party. "When people are struggling to stay in their homes, a new cellphone is not a high priority," says Jill Meyers, a wireless analyst with In-Stat.

Smart phones have been relatively steady sellers for the past year, according to data from comScore M:Metrics. A few months ago, analysts predicted the U.S. smart phone market would grow 25% year-over-year. Meyers now estimates annual growth at 11% to 12%.

Her conclusion: the "year of the smart phone" might not happen until, say, 2011. Meyers' forecast bakes in an 18- to 24-month cushion for economic recovery.

That kind of assessment has pushed the carriers to punch up their marketing efforts, starting with freebies. Verizon has spent the past two weeks hosting mass giveaways of the Storm in San Francisco, Chicago and New York. The contests involved catching cards in wind-filled booths and featured hundreds of phones as prizes. In New York, 125 people waited in line for two-and-a-half hours to participate, says David Samberg, a Verizon media relations manager. Dozens of New Yorkers also won Storms via a 10-day Manhattan scavenger hunt.

Another Storm promotion stirred up controversy. Blogs, including SlashGear, reported Tuesday that Verizon mailed fliers to subscribers falsely advertising a "private sale" this week on a quartet of phones including the Storm. Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney told Forbes.com that the sale was legitimate but didn't include the Storm--and that the flier indicated that in fine print.