Tero,
<< US subscriber growth rate remains stuck below the 40-50 fastest-growing markets in the world >>
Yup. Declining. Largest cellular subscriber base of any country in the world. Best wireline services in the world. Great modestly priced Internet connectivity with POPs everywhere and unmetered charges, over modem, xDSL, and Cable. What a country. Something for everybody.
Still a pretty good market for handsets too. I happen to agree that 30% analog sales in 1999 is a bit embarrassing. Is there any reason why Verizon or 'T' just can't take all analog phones out of the lineup completely and substitute a dualmode model? .. or have one ... big, black, ugly, and more expensive than a dualmode? Sort of like a turntable as compared to a CD player.
Strategis Group says in "U.S. Wireless Handsets: Marketshare and Trends" (January 25, 2000):
* Handset Sales 1999 = 43.4 million
* Handset Sales 2004 = 59.1 million
* Net subscriber growth - declining each year 2000 forward.
* Handset sales increasing well in both 2000 & 20001 then flattening or increasing only marginally thereafter.
Relative to above:
* Net add sales declining each year
* churn sales fairly constant
* Replacement sales increasing each year
Handset Sales by Technology
Year - 1999 / 2000
* Anlg - 30%/03%
* -GSM - 07%/09%
* TDMA - 31%/39%
* CDMA - 32%/49%
Interested in your comments on the Strategis numbers?
Miss your old DeBry.com columns and Register articles, but glad you are here to keep us up to date.
It would be nice if you revisited and updated your "Mobile Operators - The Impact of Globalization (Part I)" for DeBry (or us here) on it's 1st anniversary. It was a most excellent article.
Unfortunately Part II Global Roaming - the Buck Rogers Bust, might be a bit painful right now if you revisited it.
GSMA has been a big backer of mobile satellite telephony. Do you see any positive signs on the horizon for this technology?
- Eric - |
