Skip to main content

More than 140 Million Smartphones in Latin America

The overall Latin American mobile market will grow by 7.1 percent this year -- ending 2013 with 742 million mobile subscriptions, according to the latest market study by Informa Telecoms & Media.

While many developed mobile markets are struggling to continue growing, because of the deterioration of economic conditions, Latin America’s mobile market will prosper in 2013.

"There is a big appetite for mobile data services in the region, and such services will be the growth engine for the sector," said Marceli Passoni, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Although voice will remain the main revenue stream for mobile network operators, accounting for 76 percent of service revenues, data revenues will increase by 18 percent year-on-year -- reaching $27.7 billion.

The low PC and fixed-broadband penetrations in Latin America, combined with a reduction in smartphone prices and greater affordability of mobile data plans, contribute to the increasing mobile broadband adoption.

The popularity of smartphones has increased significantly in Latin America, and smartphones are expected to account for 46 percent of total handset sales in 2013. Meanwhile, Informa estimates that the number of smartphone connections in Latin America will increase 35 percent year-on-year in 2013, to 140.7 million.

Mobile broadband adoption has been the driving force behind strong momentum for LTE technology in the region, with the majority of operators planning to launch 4G services shortly, according to an industry survey by Informa.

In contrast to 3G, which took off in developed markets much earlier and faster than in Latin America, more than 60 percent of operators polled said they would launch 4G services by 2013.

LTE-spectrum auctions are also planned in Argentina, Colombia, Jamaica, Peru and Uruguay this year, and the service is expected to go live in Chile and be fully commercially launched in Brazil.

Although more than 40 LTE phones have been launched globally, that is still a fraction of the nearly 2,500 3G-handset models on offer. But the number of LTE handsets is expanding rapidly, which will drive down costs.

As a consequence, in 2013 LTE will represent only 0.3 percent of mobile subscriptions in Latin America. But given the speed at which LTE is being launched worldwide compared with previous technologies, it is likely to be more widely adopted in the medium term.

In 2013, the region will also see strong pressure from regulators against monopolistic practices in the telecoms market.

"Local governments want to strengthen antitrust regulation in the market by restricting the participation of dominant players. In Colombia and Mexico, where America Movil dominates the mobile market, with over 60 percent share, the discussions will be hot in 2013," Passoni added.

Popular posts from this blog

Digital Talent Demand Exceeds Supply in Asia-Pac

Even the savviest CEO's desire for a digital transformation advantage has to face the global market reality -- there simply isn't enough skilled and experienced talent available to meet demand. According to the latest market study by IDC, around 60-80 percent of Asia-Pacific (AP) organizations find it "difficult" or "extremely difficult" to fill many IT roles -- including cybersecurity, software development, and data insight professionals. Major consequences of the skills shortage are increased workload on remaining digital business and IT employees, increased security risks, and loss of "hard-to-replace" critical transformation knowledge. Digital Business Talent Market Development Although big tech companies' layoffs are making headlines, they are not representative of the overall global marketplace. Ongoing difficulty to fill key practitioner vacancies is still among the top issues faced by leaders across industries. "Skills are difficul

How Cloud Fuels Digital Business Transformation

Across the globe, many CEOs invested in initiatives to expand their digital offerings. User experience enhancements that are enabled by business technology were a priority in many industries. Worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to grow 21.7 percent to a total of $597.3 billion in 2023 -- that's up from $491 billion in 2022, according to the latest market study by Gartner. Cloud computing is driving the next phase of digital transformation, as organizations pursue disruption through technologies like generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), Web3, and enterprise Metaverse. Public Cloud Computing Market Development "Hyperscale cloud providers are driving the cloud agenda," said Sid Nag, vice president at Gartner . Organizations view cloud computing as a highly strategic platform for digital transformation initiatives, which requires providers to offer new capabilities as the competition for digital business escalates. "For example, generativ

Mobile Device Market Still Awaiting Recovery

The mobile devices market has experienced three years of unpredictable demand. The global pandemic, geopolitical pressures, supply chain issues, and macroeconomic headwinds have hindered the sector's consistent growth potential. This extremely challenging environment has dramatically affected both demand and supply chains. It has led to subsequent inflationary pressures, leading to a worsening global cost of living crisis suppressing growth and confidence in the sector. In tandem, mobile device industry stakeholders have become more cautious triggering market uncertainties. Mobile Device Market Development Operating under such a backdrop, the development of mobile device ecosystems and vendor landscapes have been impacted severely. Many of these market pressures persisted throughout 2022 and now into 2023, borne chiefly by the smartphone market. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 declined 9.6 percent Year-over-Year