Themobile broadbandmodem market is set
for a new stage of growth, driven by increased interest from
businesses and now also consumers as operators introduce lower
prices for data services, according to new research by
Telecompaper.
Moreover says the Dutch analyst firm, there is an industry shift
from a high-end niche device market to a lower margin mass
market.
The research report shows that the mobile broadband modem
market—including PC Cards, ExpressCards,
USB devices and internal cellular modems—reached around 4.3
million units in Western Europe in 2007. Over the next five years,
overall demand for mobile broadband modems is predicted to see a
compound annual growth rate of 32%, reaching shipments of 17
million units by 2012.
In terms of regional split, the strongest growth is expected in
the Nordic countries, Greece, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Telecompaper expects embedded modems are expected to exceed the
number of external modems by 2011, mainly due to further marketing
and collaboration among operators and laptop vendors. The research
firm estimates there were around 5.8 million mobile data modem
subscribers in Western Europe in 2007, with around 70% situated in
the UK, Germany, Italy and Austria.