Global Cellular Revenues at US$570 Billion in 2005
Strategy Analytics has released a new report which forecasts that the worldwide cellular user base will increase from 1.7 billion at the end of 2005 to 2.5 billion by the end of 2010, a 38% penetration rate. With average revenues falling 7% to US$30 per user per month in 2005, Strategy Analytics expects further weakness in global ARPUs as increasingly prepaid-centric and low-ARPU China, India and other emerging markets remain the engine for user growth.
Phil Kendall, report author and director of wireless operator research at Strategy Analytics, commented, "Voice usage will increase from 5.6 trillion minutes in 2005 to 12.6 trillion in 2010. GSM-based systems will continue to dominate the cellular landscape, accounting for 81 percent of subscribers and 76 percent of service revenues in 2010, though CDMA's more rapid evolution to 3G will see it dominate 3G subscriber volumes in the medium term. "
David Kerr, Vice President of the Global Wireless Practice, added, "3G subscribers will pass 50 million at the end of 2005. More importantly, European 3G markets are now outpacing Japan. The outlook for 3G is healthy provided that operators and their handset partners can expand beyond postpaid only users into the larger, but more price elastic, prepaid user segments."
Posted to the site on 11th August 2005