February 27, 2009
Mobile Data Grows, Despite Headwinds
By Gary Kim, Contributing Editor
Consumers intend to dramatically increase use of mobile data services over the next two years, with a significant ramp-up in the next 12 months, according to a survey of over 50,000 consumers conducted by the Nielsen Company.
The survey, commissioned by Tellabs – a company whose showcase of ROADM (News - Alert), Ethernet switching, 2G, 3G, 4G and cell site technologies was attended this week by TMC President Rich Tehrani (News - Alert) – shows that up to 71 percent of consumers anticipate daily use of services such as mobile Internet.
The research, conducted in the five larger Western European countries and the United States, suggests that more than half of the approximately 200 million mobile data users in those countries expect to increase use in the next two years.
“More significantly, according to the research more than a quarter of the millions of consumers who do not use mobile data services today intend to start using them shortly,” says Jesse Goranson, Nielsen Company senior vice presient.
About 58 percent of current U.S. mobile data users say they will increase their usage over the next two years .About 55 percent of European mobile data users say they also will do so.
Also, approximately 27 percent of U.S. non-users say they will start using mobile data services over the next two years, while 28 percent of European non-users say they will do so over the next two years.
As TMCnet reported recently, a Framingham, Massachusetts-based subsidiary of the International Data Group made a bold prediction in a recent study that the mobile industry will emerge relatively well from this economic recession.
Officials at IDC say that the $700 billion mobile industry – which now serves almost half of the world’s population, with 3.6 billion subscriptions at the end of 2008 – has its fingers in both developed and emerging markets.
According to the firm’s director of mobility research, Shiv Bakhshi, different industry segment likely will enjoy different growth trajectories, and some will enjoy it more than others.
“So, for instance, some industry segments, like mobile infrastructure, are likely to settle to a new, marginally lower, baseline stride,” Bakhshi said.
This year, IDC (News - Alert) predicts, the mobile industry is likely to see softening of sales in many of its constituent segments, from network infrastructure to mobile devices and from chipsets to software. Yet other industry segments, like mobile devices, applications, and services, are likely to only grow over time – taking the current economic downturn in their stride.
TMCnet also has noted spikes in the mobile space, even as the recession took hold in earnest.
Mobile Internet looks to be the big draw in the U.S. market, with 49 percent of non-users indicating they will start using over the next two years. About 34 percent of European non-users say they will do so.
About 28 percent of U.S. non-users say they will add email services, while 32 percent of European non-users indicate they will do so.
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Gary Kim (News - Alert) is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Gary’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Michael Dinan
