Almost everybody in this world seems to be handicapped without a mobile phone. So this latest tidbit shouldn’t really come as a surprise. As per ABI Research, Global cellular subscription numbers have exceeded 4.35 billion by the end of 2009, with a YoY increase of roughly 10.4%.
Cellular subscriptions appeared to decelerate clearly in the first half of 2009 as budding markets apparently faced the impact of the economic slowdown. The speed of adoption was displayed and current end-users decreased spending on cellular subscriptions. Cellular subscription adoption has supposedly since regained in late 2009, thereby leading to a worldwide cellular penetration topping 66%.
Vice president of forecasting, Jake Saunders, commented, “There is still some mileage in EDGE subscriptions (28%) and GSM voice-only subscriptions (8%) but otherwise GPRS subs are shrinking. However 3G and 3.5G subscriptions are ramping up as the ‘need for speed’ encourages end-users to upgrade. At the end of 2009, there were 181 million HSxPA subscriptions. Overall, mobile broadband subscriptions grew to 271 million for a YoY growth rate of 43%.”
Majority of the industrialized countries appeared to shove in through the 100% penetration barrier by the end of the 1990s, with the assistance of prepaid subscription plans.
Analyst Bhavya Khanna added, “There is a very real prospect that within the next five to ten years, cellular subscription penetration will pass through 200% in a number of developed countries. USB dongles, embedded modems in netbooks, laptops, tablets and consumer electronics will test the definition of ‘mobile cellular subscriber’. Operators will need to evolve to multiple devices per subscription to retain customers.”
Apparently, the Asia-Pacific region reports an astounding 45% of the global cellular market as opposed to only 29% roughly ten years ago. The subsequent biggest market is Western Europe with 13% trailed by North America having 7.2%.
In Asia-Pacific, cellular penetration seems to have only reached at 52.5% as against the 140% in Western Europe and 93% in North America. Cellular penetration could encompass 80% of the world’s population by early 2014.