re: Tero comments on subscriber growth trends by technology and region
For the 3rd consecutive quarter CDMA lags TDMA (and GSM & PDC) for YOY annual growth (+ 67% to + 58%) and GSM (+ 66% to + 58%).
I have commented before that I expect this will reverse in this calendar year but it certainly has not done so yet.
For some time, those of us long time Qualcommers took great & frequent pleasure in pointing out to Tero that for several years CDMA was the fastest growing technology in the world and as a consequence I suspect Tero took some pleasure in authoring this piece:
>> Tricky Trends in the Mobile-Phone Market
Tero Kuittinen
TheStreet.com
6/7/01
Part 1
thestreet.com
Part 2
thestreet.com
Note: CDG has just updated their website with subscriber stats through Q1 2001:
cdg.org
>> Worldwide CDMA Subscriber Base Continues To Expand Rapidly
90 Million Global Subscribers Now Use the Most Advanced Wireless Technology Standard that Lays the Foundation for 3G
June 4, 2001
CDG
cdg.org
The CDMA Development Group (CDG) reported today that the number of code division multiple access (CDMA) subscribers has grown by 58% in 12 months, reaching 90 million global subscribers as of March 2001.
The Asia Pacific region continues to be the largest CDMA market with nearly 40 million users, representing a growth of 25 percent over the past year. Latin America demonstrated significant gains in the last year, increasing 144 percent and bringing the regional total to 15.9 million. This makes CDMA the fastest growing technology in the region. In North America, CDMA operators added more than 15.3 million new subscribers, bringing the total CDMA subscribers in the United States and Canada to 33.8 million, which is significantly more than other technologies in the region. <<
UWCC also (has (had) their numbers up:
>> 67 Percent Annual Growth Reported for TDMA Subscribers Worldwide
Latin America Growth Exponential
UWCC
May 29, 2001
tdma-edge.org
The Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) announced today that TDMA subscribers increased by 67% worldwide over the past twelve months, reaching 68.3 million by April 1, 2001. "TDMA continues to be the most popular technology in the Americas in subscribers, coverage area, licensed operators, and percentage of growth" reported Chris Pearson, Executive Vice President for the UWCC. "Recent technology announcements regarding the GSM/GPRS overlay on networks have not affected the current growth for TDMA in the world marketplace."
From first quarter 2000 to first quarter 2001, TDMA operators in North America (which includes the United States, Mexico, and Canada) added 11.6 million subscribers for a total of 33.6 million subscribers, representing annual growth of 53% in this region. Exponential growth continues in the Latin American region, where subscribers grew by 88% over the past 12 months to 32 million subscribers. The number of TDMA subscribers in Latin America is only modestly less than in North America.
"Despite difficult economic conditions in some countries, our TDMA operators in Latin America and the Caribbean continue to offer solid value propositions for new customers, sustaining TDMA's very strong leadership position," stated Dr. Richard Downes, Director Latin America and Caribbean for UWCC. "First, there is huge marketplace potential due to low wireline and wireless penetration rates compared to other parts of the world, so the demand is there. Second, the TDMA operators are offering innovative solutions for prepaid and value added services that allow them to build on the cost-effectiveness of TDMA."
Recent worldwide subscriber numbers for three months ending March 31, 2001 highlight that TDMA is the leading technology in terms of percentage growth. Pearson added, "These subscriber numbers and recent information from the top TDMA operators showcase that TDMA technology will continue to grow for years to come." <<
For charts on TDMA subscriber numbers visit:
uwcc.org.
EMC updated GSMA's Q1 numbers some time ago
>> GSM Mobiles Reach Half Billion Landmark
"1 in 12 people on the planet now have a GSM phone"
11th MAY 2001
GSMA
gsmworld.com
More than half a billion GSM mobile phones are now in use worldwide, according to figures released today by the GSM Association - the mobile/wireless industry's worldwide body - and the wireless research organisation EMC World Cellular Database.
GSM technology - which allows mobile users to roam to more than 168 countries making and receiving calls on one handset and with one global number - now accounts for more than 70 per cent of the world's digital mobile phones. The three other digital technologies combined account for the remaining 30 per cent. This market share is expected to grow even more with 3G systems, as more than 85 per cent are expected to be 3GSM/ W-CDMA.
Nearly 40 per cent of all GSM customers are outside of Europe, reflecting the increasing globalisation of GSM. In fact, the largest single country GSM population is now China with some 82.4 million customers - China alone has almost as many GSM customers as any other digital standard.
GSM in the Americas is also expanding at an exponential rate. There are already more than 10 million GSM phones in North America. AT&T Wireless, Rogers Wireless' and other major operators recent decision to overlay digital TDMA network with GSM services is expected to lead to a surge in GSM usage across the USA. Meanwhile in Latin America, decisions by countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Mexico to adopt GSM are predicted to see a tenfold increase in GSM users in Latin America during the next 12-18 months.
Commenting on the figures, Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association, said: "These numbers speak for themselves and are a testament to the incredible value of the GSM system. Consumers care about services, convenience and roaming."
"They care that the phone they have works seamlessly in another city or country. They care that they only need one number, virtually worldwide. And they care that GSM offers incredible variety in choice of handsets and economies of scale to enable affordable handsets loaded with features."
"The GSM approach - of operators, manufacturers,, and organisations like ours working together - is the approach that delivers on the things users care about," said GSM Association Chair, Scott Fox. "That is the secret of the success, the technology is successful because the approach is successful - and it is the approach that we are already repeating with the evolving GSM family via GPRS, EDGE and 3GSM." <<
- Eric - |
