Global SmartPhones Subscriptions To Surpass 5 Billion mark By 2019
Mobile subscriptions are expected to reach 9.3 billion by 2019, and more than 60% of these – 5.6 billion – will be for smartphones, according to Ericsson.
To support the smartphone user experience, WCDMA/HSPA networks are predicted to cover 90% of the world’s population by 2019. Moreover, almost two-thirds (65%) of the world’s population will be covered by 4G/LTE networks.
With this projection, it is almost a given that there would be a surge in the volume of e-commerce, e-government and i-entertainment across the internet.
Currently, smartphones represent 25-30% of all mobile phone subscriptions, yet they account for the majority (55%) of mobile phones sold in the third quarter.
Senior Vice President and Head of Strategy at Ericsson, Douglas Gilstrap said, “the rapid pace of smartphone uptake has been phenomenal and is set to continue. It took more than five years to reach the first billion smartphone subscriptions, but it will take less than two to hit the two billion mark. Between now and 2019, smartphone subscriptions will triple.
As much as it represents a vista of opportunity for smart and savvy businessmen to tap into the potentials inherent in this most dynamic of platforms, there is need for the public and private sector to liaise in order to provide smooth broadband services for the country’s growing army of internet denizens.
Smartphone traffic will grow by 10 times between 2013 and 2019, reaching 10 exabytes. Video is growing 55% yearly, and will represent more than 50% of the mobile data traffic, while social networking and web services will account for around 10% each in 2019.