Mobile broadband connections to double next year
April 15, 2014
By the end of 2015, active mobile broadband devices are forecast to reach 34 million, a nearly 50 per cent increase from 2013, according to The NPD Group Connected Intelligence Mobile Broadband Market Share and Forecast Report. Two-thirds (66 per cent) of those devices will be tablets.
Driven primarily by enterprise demand, USB stick modems were the primary mobile broadband devices until the end of 2012. Standalone mobile hotspots gained popularity in 2011 and 2012, but both devices have seen substantial declines over the year as more consumers are utilising the hotspot features on their tablets and smartphones.
Tablets currently account for 40 per cent of mobile broadband connections, and as USB sticks and mobile hotspots decline, carriers will need to boost adoption of the connected tablet. As this shift occurs the price of embedded cellular tablet should rapidly decline.
“Tablets are the next subscriber battleground for the carriers,” said Brad Akyuz, director, Connected Intelligence. “The decline in ASPs, coupled with the intensified pricing competition, will further boost connected tablet adoption in the coming years. AT&T currently leads in active tablets connections, but we anticipate Verizon Wireless will surpass AT&T by the end of 2015. While all of this is great news for consumers who want an always-on tablet, it could drive the carrier market back into a subsidised device model just as this is beginning to fade for smartphones.”