Mobile Communications Equipment Growth up 7.9 Percent, Reaches $235.5 Billion for 2010, iSuppli Says
Worldwide factory equipment revenue generated by mobile communications will approach the quarter-trillion-dollar mark by year end, said iSuppli. Global mobile communications factory equipment revenue for 2010 is forecast to be $235.5 billion, up 7.9 percent from last year, on the expansion of mobile broadband worldwide and by sales of 3G phones, the industry research firm said. For 2011, revenue for the segment is projected to hit $271.3 billion. 3G mobile handsets will account for the largest share of revenue at $86.4 billion, up 34.6 percent from $64.2 billion in 2009, the firm said.
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Growth is expected to continue for the mobile communications category, including handsets, cordless phones, battery chargers, mobile infrastructure, mobile and fixed broadband access devices and wireless LAN equipment, iSuppli said. By 2014, total factory equipment revenue will reach $359.3 billion, it said. Revenue is declining in older 1G and 2G mobile handsets, to $55.6 billion in 2010 from $68.3 billion in 2009, but remains significant in emerging markets in Latin America, Asia and Africa, it said.
Revenue figures are much smaller in the nascent 4G category, “whose precise definition is in dispute,” iSuppli said. Sales are expected to come in significantly higher at $1.3 billion for 2010 compared with $11 million in 2009. Analyst Francis Sideco said 3G will likely continue to be the dominant technology through 2014, while wireless carriers wrestle with heavy data traffic and “attempt to maximize investments in existing 3.5G and 3.75G technologies through incremental network upgrades.” ISuppli also noted that carriers are deploying next-gen 4G technologies such as LTE that “will begin in earnest” by 2011.
Smartphones are leading growth in the handset category, iSuppli said, with a projected increase of 40.6 percent this year, after a 12 percent expansion in 2009. Apple, Research in Motion and HTC continued to gain market share at the expense of other players, it said. Overall cellphone shipments in 2010 are expected to reach 1.29 billion units, up 11.7 percent from last year. Projections don’t take into account gray-market handsets, which iSuppli said are especially popular in China, where they'll contribute $8.9 billion in revenue for 2010.