SIM cards market will grow 4.1 percent to 5.4 billion during 2015, said ABI Research.
The declining ASPs have prompted smart card and IC vendors to change their strategies. Focus of SIM card vendors is now moving away from market share gains and up the value chain — driven by higher value product propositions such as SWP and LTE SIMs.
The transition from 2G to 3G and on to 4G is creating one of the bright spots. Smart card vendors including Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Oberthur Technologies, and Morpho are focusing on 4G LTE SIM card market.
Dimitrios Pavlakis, ABI Research Analyst, said: “Europe, North America, and certain parts of Asia-Pacific are enjoying a smooth transition to LTE technology, primarily attributed to significant network infrastructure investments and governmental regulations.”
“Other telecom markets including Latin America and India, are currently in a state where expansion of connectivity and network upgrades are challenging, hindering growth for adoption of faster air interface technologies and delaying future LTE rollouts,” Pavlakis said.
SWP (Single Wire Protocol) SIM card shipments grew 95 percent – mainly growing in the North American and Asia-Pacific regions, both accounting for 75 percent of all SWP shipments in 2014.
This scenario will likely change as MNOs look to control a competitive mobile payment platform to rival OEMs and other vendors such as Apple, Samsung, PayPal, and Google which continue to battle for market share and territory, said ABI Research.
