Global LTE smartphone shipments are expected to increase from 90.9 million units in 2012 to 275 million by 2013, according to a report by Strategy Analytics.
According to the report, companies such as Apple, Samsung, LG, Nokia, HTC, Motorola, BlackBerry, Huawei, ZTE and Pantech will lead the growth in countries like the US, UK, Japan, China and South Korea.
Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said that multiple operators and multiple phone vendors will be launching dozens of LTE models across countries worldwide. "LTE has quickly become a high-growth, high-value market that no operator, service developer, component maker or device vendor can afford to ignore," Mawston said.
Strategy Analytics analyst Linda Sui said: "The LTE smartphone market has become highly valuable and we believe it will eventually attract new entrants seeking a slice of the 4G pie, such as Amazon or Mozilla."
Multiple operators like Verizon Wireless, Everything Everywhere and NTT Docomo are developing their LTE networks to sustain the growth.
