"Less than 13 percent of the global tablet installed base will have active mobile broadband service in 2012, yet in the US, both AT&T and Verizon Wireless saw tablets play a key role in net subscriber additions in Q2 this year," notes Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, Director, Mobile Broadband Opportunities (MBO) at Strategy Analytics.
She adds, "Service revenues from tablets will be an important incremental growth source for mobile operators, with global tablet service revenues reaching US$15 billion in 2017. Multi-device shared data plans and 4G LTE are key drivers for tablet subscriptions."
LTE quickly becomes the access technology of choice, accounting for nearly 68% of mobile broadband tablet subscriptions by the end of 2017, according to a companion report. Average data traffic per subscription will grow substantially as use of video intensive services increases. Mobile data traffic from tablets will surge to more than 2.7 million Terrabytes in 2017, representing an 80.4% CAGR from 2012.
While the US retains its leadership position as the country with the most mobile broadband tablet subscriptions, the Chinese market comes in second and shows rapid expansion.
Guang Yang, Senior Analyst, Wireless Operator Strategies (WOS), recommends, "Despite representing a small percent of total service revenues, the tablet opportunity is a growth market that Chinese mobile operators cannot afford to overlook as they target growth in data revenues and share of consumer wallet."
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