MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2010, BARCELONA – Global spending on wireless equipment and services surpassed US$1 trillion for the first time ever in 2009.
The wireless supply chain garnered $US900 billion in service and equipment revenue in 2009. When combined with the US$110 billion in consumer spending on wireless devices and accessories for the year, it amounted to US$1.01 trillion in total spending.
In order to drive the next trillion dollars of growth, iSuppli believes that a paradigm shift is required with more focus on maximising share of the over-the-top applications, content and services market by the wireless value chain.
The global mobile-phone market performed better than expected in 2009, with shipments declining by 6.7pc to 1.14 billion units, down from 1.23 billion in 2008.
Global mobile-phone shipments are expected to grow to 1.28 billion in 2010, up 12.1pc from 2009, as presented in the attached figure.
Nokia padded its lead in the global mobile-phone market in the fourth quarter of 2009, accounting for 38.9pc of global unit shipments, up from 37.4pc in the third quarter.
The only other Top 5 mobile-phone brand to gain share in the fourth quarter was Samsung. Samsung’s share rose to 21.1pc, up from 20.7pc in the third quarter.
Smart phone facts
Global smart-phone shipments are expected to rise to 246.9 million units in 2010, up 12.1pc from 181 million in 2009, as presented in the attached file.
The number of smart-phone suppliers with double-digit market share in 2007 was just one: Nokia. By 2009, three smart-phone makers had a double-digit share of the smart-phone market: Nokia, RIM and Apple.
Google is attracting the interest of smart-phone makers in 2010. About 30pc of all smart-phone models introduced are expected to use the Android operating system in 2010, more than triple the 9pc in 2009.
More than 20 smart phone OEMs are expected to support Android in 2010, up from four in 2009.
The Mac OS held a 14pc share of smart-phone unit shipments in 2009.
GPS
The number of GPS-enabled mobile phones expected to be shipped in 2010 is 376 million, or about 28pc of the total handset market.This will rise to 33pc to 2011.
An estimated 26pc of GPS-enabled mobile phones shipped in 2010 will utilise a navigation application.
Wireless carrier navigation service revenue is estimated to grow by 37.6pc in 2010.
Portable Navigation Device (PND) shipments are expected to peak in 2012 at slightly less than 45 million units and then start to decline due to competition from smart phones.
About 4pc of GPS-enabled mobile phones are being used in conjunction with traffic information services. This will grow to about 12pc by 2013.
Wireless infrastructure
Wireless infrastructure spending trends indicate that the wireless market is investing in 4G technology.
The 4G market is expected to represent about 2.8pc of total base station revenues in 2010. This will grow to about 54pc by 2013.
The market for base station equipment suppliers is consolidating. In 2006, seven suppliers accounted for 90pc of the market. In 2009, five suppliers controlled 90pc of the market.
By John Kennedy
