Skip to main content

Wireless Cellular Modem Market Developing

Since the end of 2006, several wireless modem vendors have launched, or announced development of, USB cellular modems. A study from ABI Research reveals a growing and increasingly competitive market and forecasts shipments of these modems in excess of 22 million by 2012.

According to principal analyst Dan Shey, "Proliferation of 3G networks is the primary driver of growth of cellular modems regardless of form factor. However, new companies are jumping into the USB modem market because the installed base of devices for USB modems includes not only laptops but also desktops. Desktop PCs are ubiquitous around the world and will continue shipping in large volumes, exceeding 140 million units per year through 2011."

In a market characterized by increasing competition, cellular modem shipments, including PC Cards and ExpressCards, USB modems, internal modems and 3G or Wi-Fi routers, will grow to over 68 million units by 2012, representing a compound annual growth rate of 53 percent.

According to ABI's assessment, the market dynamics affecting USB modem growth will be very different from those that affect the other modem form factors. This will create opportunities and challenges for all value chain players.

Says Shey, "There are two factors to watch which will affect the USB modem market. First, the new companies entering this market are in the Asia-Pacific region, a territory with notoriously price-competitive companies. Second, since the USB modem attaches externally to the computer, the device has no space or shape limitations. This fact will allow modem vendors to differentiate their products based on body design and functional features, providing for interesting marketing opportunities."

Popular posts from this blog

How WLAN Transforms Industrial Automation

The industrial sector is on the eve of a wireless transformation, driven by an urgent demand for greater network capacity, reliability, and deterministic performance. Historically, manufacturers and mission-critical operations have relied on wired networks — favoring their predictability — because spectrum congestion in legacy 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands limited confidence in wireless for operational technology (OT) environments. However, with the introduction and rapid adoption of the 6GHz spectrum, compounded by significant advances in Wi-Fi standards, industrial facilities are now poised to embrace wireless LANs as the backbone for automation and digital innovation. Industrial WLAN Market Development Recent research from ABI Research forecasts that over 70 percent of industrial-grade wireless LAN access points (WLAN APs) shipped in 2030 will support the 6GHz band. This is a leap from 2 percent in 2023, highlighting a rapid and profound technological shift. The market for ruggedized indust...