TD-LTE smartphones are expected to grow 96.3 percent CAGR during 2013 – 2018 in shipments, said Infonetics Research. The growth will be driven by 4G telecom operators in China including China Mobile and China Telecom.

FD-LTE smartphones will grow 34.6 percent CAGR, while TD-SCDMA smartphones will increase at 3.8 percent CAGR during the forecast period.

W-CDMA/HSPA smartphone growth will decrease 13.2 percent, while CDMA 2000/EV-DO devices will dip 19.1 percent during 2013-18.

“The LTE network build taking place in China is going to result in a significant upside for LTE-enabled smartphones and tablets. Specifically, TD-LTE devices are poised to be the world’s fastest-growing segment as the Chinese market joins the LTE smartphone revolution,” said Godfrey Chua, directing analyst for M2M and The Internet of Things at Infonetics Research.

The research report said FD-LTE smartphone segment revenue dipped 14 percent in Q1 2014 quarter-over-quarter to $43 billion.

The only smartphone technologies to grow sequentially in Q1 were TD-SCDMA and TDD-LTE.

Mobile router revenue rose 24 percent sequentially and from the year-ago.

Mobile e-reader sales slipped 46 percent in Q1 from a year ago.

In the USB card segment, FD-LTE cards made up 44 percent of revenue, overtaking W-CDMA.

Lower-cost, entry-level devices based on W-CDMA are growing in popularity, sparked by a determined push by Chinese OEMs keen to grab market share.

Top 4G smartphone vendors include Apple, Huawei, LG, Nokia, Samsung, Lenovo and Sony.

TD-LTE embedded tablets will grow 155 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2013 to 2018.