“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.