Skip to main content

Smartphones Drive Data Usage, Not Revenues

Mobile data usage continues to grow exponentially as 3G wireless network technology spreads globally, according the the latest market study by ABI Research.

From 2009 to 2015 data usage in Western Europe and North America is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 42 percent and 55 percent respectively.

In 2010, the average North American user is expected to consume 159 megabytes of data -- that's up from 100 megabytes in 2009.

"Mobile voice has already been surpassed by mobile data traffic on some networks, and this trend will only accelerate, says ABI Research wireless analyst Bhavya Khanna. "This boom in usage is driven by the rapid adoption of smartphones in these markets."

However, the explosion in data traffic does not mean a corresponding rise in data revenues for mobile service providers, as the popularity of unlimited or fixed price plans caps revenue even as usage grows.

Mobile data revenues are expected to grow at a CAGR of about 18 percent in North America, in sharp contrast to the increase in usage. This presents a challenge for operators as they look to manage the demands on their networks without a corresponding increase in income.

The growth in data traffic comes at the cost of voice usage. Minutes of use are on the decline in developed markets in North America and Western Europe. However, in emerging markets there is still room for voice usage growth.

Increasing competition in Africa has reduced tariffs, resulting in minutes of use per user growing by 9 percent between 2009 and 2010. There is still much room for growth on the continent, as average usage per subscriber continues to be half of that of the Asia-Pacific region.

Popular posts from this blog

Demand for Quantum Computing as a Service

The enterprise demand for quantum computing is still in its early stages, growing slowly. As the technology becomes more usable, we may see demand evolve beyond scientific applications. The global quantum computing market is forecast to grow from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $7.6 billion in 2027, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). That's a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.1 percent. The forecast includes base Quantum Computing as a Service, as well as enabling and adjacent Quantum Computing as a Service. However, this updated forecast is considerably lower than IDC's previous quantum computing forecast, which was published in 2021, due to lower demand globally. Quantum Computing Market Development In the interim, customer spend for quantum computing has been negatively impacted by several factors, including: slower than expected advances in quantum hardware development, which have delayed potential return on inve

AI Semiconductor Revenue will Reach $119.4B

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and/or the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) will guide Generative AI initiatives within the large enterprise C-Suite. They may already have the technical expertise and experience to understand the capabilities and limitations of Gen AI. They also have the authority and budget to make the necessary investments in infrastructure and talent to support Gen AI initiatives. Enterprise AI infrastructure is proven to be expensive to build, operate and maintain. That's why public cloud service provider solutions are often used for new AI use cases. AI Semiconductor Market Development Semiconductors designed to execute Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads will represent a $53.4 billion revenue opportunity for the global semiconductor industry in 2023, an increase of 20.9 percent from 2022, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "The developments in generative AI and the increasing use of a wide range AI-based applications in data c

Global Public Cloud Spending to Reach $1.35T

Most digital transformation is enabled by cloud solutions. Worldwide spending on public cloud services is forecast to reach $1.35 trillion in 2027, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). Although annual spending growth is expected to slow slightly over the 2023-2027 forecast period, the market is forecast to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.9 percent. "Cloud now dominates tech spending across infrastructure, platforms, and applications," said Eileen Smith, vice president at IDC . Public Cloud Services Market Development IDC believes that most organizations have adopted the public cloud as a cost-effective platform for hosting enterprise applications, and for developing and deploying customer-facing solutions. Looking forward, the cloud computing model remains well positioned to serve customer needs for innovation in application development and deployment -- including as data, artificial intelligence