LTE device revenues touch $2.5 billion with 8 million units in 2011

By
Telecom Lead Team: LTE device shipments reached 8 million units at the end of
2011. With most vendors going full swing into the LTE, the LTE devices market
is set to grow at a CAGR of over 104 percent over the next five years reaching
300 million shipments by 2016.

2012
alone will see shipments increase to 32 million units, according to according
to analyst firm Signals and Systems Telecom.

From
a regional perspective North America will continue to lead the market in terms
of shipments.

However
the Asia Pacific region will take the lead in terms of overall subscriptions by
2016.

The
LTE Devices Database: Vendor Device Launches, Shipments, Revenues &
Subscriptions by Region and Country: 2011 – 2015 is part of the LTE and
LTE-Advanced Devices Report. It tracks all commercially released LTE
devices by vendor, detailed frequency band information, form factor and
features in addition to providing shipment, revenue and subscriptions forecasts
up to 2016.

Recently, Wireless Intelligence
said that the global adoption of LTE services risks being hampered by device
interoperability issues unless harmonized spectrum band plans can be
achieved.

 

LTE device interoperability issues and lack of spectrum
harmonization to impact roll outs

There will be 38 different spectrum frequency
combinations used in LTE deployments by 2015, a fragmented scenario fuelled by
ongoing spectrum auctions, licence renewals and re-farming initiatives across
frequency bands.

 

The lack of spectrum harmonization creates challenges for
emerging LTE ecosystem, preventing vendors from delivering compatible LTE
products such as devices and chipsets, or requiring them to increase prices.

 

There will be more than 200 live LTE networks in over 70
countries by 2015, up from 40 networks in 24 countries today. The report notes
that the IMT-extension band (2500/2600MHz) is the most globally harmonized band
used in LTE deployments to date, accounting for over half of live networks in
2011.

 

The number of LTE connections is forecast to grow from 7
million in 2011 to close to 300 million by 2015. More than two-thirds of global
LTE connections today relate to deployments at 700MHz due to the large-scale
rollouts underway in the United States, according to GSMA. 

 

Asia Pacific has the most varied spectral combinations of
all the global regions despite significant support for LTE at 2100MHz (Japan),
2500MHz (China) and 1800MHz (Southeast Asia). Asia Pacific, Africa and the
Middle East will represent a joint 50 percent of global LTE connections by
2015, which further underlines the urgent need for spectrum harmonization.

 

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