According to Strategy Analytics, the strong evolution of cellular-only markets will dramatically slow the global adoption of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC). By 2010 there will be 500 million cellular-only users generating three times the voice revenues of their FMC counterparts. With major carriers such as BT, Korea Telecom and BellSouth deploying FMC services, convergence is back on the agenda and the specter of WiFi or Bluetooth destabilizing in-building cellular revenue flows again looms large. However, handset prices and availability will represent the biggest barrier to FMC adoption. "The 'voice goes mobile' mantra of the cellular industry is now a reality rather than a mission statement." comments David Kerr, Vice President, Strategy Analytics' Global Wireless Practice. "Cellular already accounts for 60 percent of the world's access lines, one third of all voice minutes and one half of all voice revenues, with 10 percent of homes relying on only a mobile phone for voice. FMC providers will have to work hard to turn this tide as players like Vodafone and O2 fine tune their wireless-only solutions."
The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...