Telecom Lead India: Chinese telecom equipment maker
Huawei is leading the modem market in 2011 with 47 percent.
The company has retained its lead since 2007.
ZTE is the second largest player with 30 percent market
share.
Apple (iPad family of media tablets) and AnyDATA (Amazon
Kindle e-reader) are in the number three and four rankings, respectively.
The mobile broadband modem market is poised for
substantial growth through 2017 with a forecasted CAGR of 15 percent.
ABI Research said more than 132 million modems shipped
worldwide in 2011 for use in personal computing (PC) and consumer electronics
(CE) applications.
These modems utilize mobile broadband technologies
(commonly marketed by network operators as 3G and 4G) and come in four distinct
form-factors: PC cards, USB sticks, embedded modem modules, and mobile hotspot
routers.
PC cards, which used to be the primary way to attach a
modem to a laptop computer, have all but been supplanted by the convenience and
ubiquity of the USB port interface.
USB modems have driven mobile broadband modem volumes
since 2006 and continued to lead with more than 97 million shipped during 2011.
Embedded modem modules experienced the largest
year-over-year form-factor growth at 58 percent. The rapid uptake of media
tablets by early technology adopters has pushed the module segment forward
compared to the sluggish attach rates from laptop computers.
Mobile hotspot routers that enable multiple Wi-Fi devices
to connect to a single mobile data radio are holding their own with 45 percent
year-over-year growth in 2011.
“A handful of countries, led by Japan, saw an
industry first in 2011: more mobile hotspot router shipments than USB modems.
ABI Research expects this trend to continue in the Asia-Pacific region and be
joined by North America and Western Europe starting in 2012,” said ABI Research
senior practice director Jeff Orr.
