14 DAY TRIAL // A couple of days ago, leading research firm ABI Research has published a new forecast, stating that the number of mobile subscriptions is expected to top five billion by the end of 2010. Moreover, the firm notes that the first quarter of the year ended with a number of 4.8 billion connections, and that the impressive increase would be fueled by growth in developing markets in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
The fastest growing mobile market in the world remains Africa, with an increase of over 22 percent when compared to the last year. Moreover, ABI Research states that the Asia Pacific region is expected to register high growth on the mobile market too, and that the mobile penetration in the area should grow by 65 percent before the end of the ongoing year.
“This unprecedented growth is driven by India and Indonesia, which have together added over 150 million subscriptions in the past four quarters,” comments ABI Research analyst Bhavya Khanna. “Falling monthly tariffs and ultra-low-cost mobile handsets have democratized the reach and use of the mobile phone, and aggressive rollouts by mobile operators in these countries will see the current rate of subscriber addition maintained for some time to come.”
Developed countries in North America and Europe also registered growth in the number of mobile subscriptions, greatly helped by the availability of new mobile devices, as well as of netbooks, tablet computers, USB dongles and e-book readers. “The success of Apple’s iPad 3G shows that even operators in saturated markets can add subscriptions by introducing innovative and user-friendly devices,” says vice president of forecasting Jake Saunders.
On top of that, the launch of the first 4G data networks based on WiMAX and LTE should spur the number of mobile subscriptions even more, as consumers would choose accessing the Internet via mobile broadband connections over their existing cable. Additional details on the forecast are available on the research firm's website.