Gothenburg, Sweden: According to research from analysts Berg Insight, HSPA/LTE accounted for 20.6% of the total number of broadband connections in Europe at the end of 2010. The number of HSPA/LTE mobile broadband subscribers (connected PCs and tablets) grew by 33% year-on-year in 2010 to reach 33.9 million, and Berg forecasts it will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.9% to 96 million by 2016.
The levels of adoption of mobile broadband vary significantly across Europe. According to Lars Kurkinen, a telecom analyst at Berg Insight, Austria is the most advanced market with a penetration rate of over 20%, corresponding to 46% of all broadband connections in the country. Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Ireland, and Portugal also have penetration rates above 10%, while Belgium, Switzerland, and Greece have penetration rates of less than 3%, he said.
Berg Insight says Huawei has established itself as the world’s largest supplier of mobile broadband terminals holding a market share of 49%, with a particularly strong foothold in Europe. ZTE is the second largest vendor with clear margins capturing a market share of 31%.
The analysts estimate that the total global number of shipped external mobile broadband devices in 2010 was 92.7 million, with Europe and North America accounting for 27.4 million units and 8.5 million units respectively. In addition, shipments of embedded modules reached an estimated 9.5 million units.
Two of the largest telecom vendors, Ericsson and Qualcomm, entered the market for embedded solutions in 2008 and have signed contracts with many of the major notebook vendors. The two companies captured a market share of 83% together in 2010.
Berg Insight
www.berginsight.com