Skip to main content

Exploring Applications for Mobile Phone SIM Cards

Mobile phone subscriber identification module (SIM) card annual shipments are expected to rise in 2013 by 5 percent to 5.5 billion units, according to the latest market study by ABI Research.

Growth is slowing as markets near saturation and the SIM card becomes increasingly ubiquitous across different mobile network technologies.

However, areas of growth remain with new applications, form factors, and an increasing breadth of connected products.

As such, the related market value will grow at a higher rate to $2.3 billion this year and ASPs are forecast to increase slightly over the next five years.

The emphasis is now on extracting maximum value from the 6.3 -- rising to 7.5 -- billion SIM cards in circulation.

ABI believes that 4G mobile network rollouts, Near Field Communications (NFC) and solutions offering more advanced security for payments -- such as DRM, authentication, and encryption -- will all see higher end SIM cards shipping over the next few years.

"Following shipment growth in 2012 of 8 percent, this is the first time that the SIM card market has had two consecutive years of single-digit growth, said John Devlin, Security & ID practice director at ABI Research.

There is a growing emphasis from leading vendors on new developments to grow their SIM card businesses. The problem is that this is a limited market, highlighting this fact is that, even in 2017, over half of shipments will still be for use on 2G mobile networks.

New form factors and the growing need for data connectivity in consumer electronics and M2M devices will provide some further respite to a slowing market.

In 2012, 3FF, 4FF, and MFF accounted for 6 percent of shipments; by 2017 this will have increased to 33 percent. Simultaneously, 3G and 4G will have grown from 19 percent to 42 percent.

The end result of these advances is that high-end SIMs -- i.e. 512KB and above -- will account for a third of SIMs shipping in 2017.

Popular posts from this blog

How Savvy Pioneers Lead the Future of Work

Hybrid and fully remote work are inevitable in the Global Networked Economy where high-performance talent demands flexibility from employers. To enable these progressive work models, organizations are investing in a wide range of technologies to support more agile types of employment.  According to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC), leading organizations will spend nearly $1 billion on the Future of Work (FoW) in 2023 -- that's an increase of 18.8 percent over 2022. Future of Work Market Development "Work models continue to evolve, but 37 percent of decision-makers in a recent global survey note that Remote and Hybrid work models will be an embedded part of accepted work practices, supported by a continued shift to the cloud, increasingly instrumented and interconnected physical workplaces, and intelligent digital workspaces," said Holly Muscolino, group vice president at IDC . According to the IDC assessment, organizations must mak

Human Resource Transformation Enabled by IT

Many senior executives are taking a proactive approach to digital business transformation in order to achieve their strategic goals. Delivering revenue growth and profitability is now imperative for every function, including Human Resources (HR). The top 3 priority HR technologies this year are skills management, learning experience platforms, and internal talent marketplaces, according to the latest worldwide market study by Gartner. "With a tumultuous global economy, HR technology leaders face a balancing act in 2023," said Sam Grinter, director at Gartner . "Leaders must anticipate greater levels of accountability and demand for measurable outcomes to justify new technology investments." HR Transformation Market Development Forty-four percent of HR leaders report driving better business outcomes is their number one strategic priority for HR technology transformation over the next three years. Growth in headcount and skills (26 percent) and cost optimization (17 p

Virtual Reality Market Set to Reach $100 Billion

Virtual Reality (VR) market growth is now finally coming to fruition. Thanks to current actions and market momentum, VR is approaching what can be considered critical mass. And, not a moment too soon. This growth momentum comes from new hardware and content releases, accelerating enterprise value recognition, and a significant metaverse wild card that could potentially lift adoption and usage. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, over 85 million VR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) will be shipped in 2027 across consumer and enterprise segments, creating a $100 billion VR market that includes hardware, software, and services. Virtual Reality Market Development "Expectations have been high in VR for years, and even decades, without notable growth to show. That growth is finally coming over the next five years," said Eric Abbruzzese, research director at ABI Research . The barrier to entry is lower than ever, all while content performance and user experien