Cellular modem sale is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16% to reach 312 million in 2017 from 150 million in 2012, according to the Strategy Analytics Mobile Workforce Strategies (MWS) service report.
The report, "Mobile Broadband Devices: 5-Year Market Outlook on Embedded and External Modems", shows that nearly 35% of external modems will account for mobile hotspot routers, driven by growth in consumer electronics devices like eBook readers, tablets and ultrabooks by 2017.
The research firm noted the ubiquity of Wi-Fi in devices has increased demand for cellular hotspot routers, a singular cellular appliance that can connect multiple Wi-Fi devices, requiring only one data subscription.
In 2012, cellular modem sales are expected to fastest growth of 69% in North America followed by Asia Pacific which will grow at 34%.
The mobile broadband device installed base of USB modems, PC cards and embedded notebooks and netbooks will grow from 266 million units in 2012 to 688 million by 2017, the report revealed.
LTE are projected to comprise about 48% of overall cellular modem shipments by 2017, Strategy Analytics said.
Strategy Analytics Enterprise Research director Andrew Brown said the cellular modem market will continue to show healthy growth through 2017 at 16 percent CAGR, driven by a need to connect multiple devices such as tablets, notebooks, netbooks, e-readers, ultrabooks and other CE devices.
"The ability to connect five or more devices to mobile hotpot routers offers a major opportunity to make these devices a vital connectivity hub," he added.
LTE networks in the US and in other regions offer an ideal opportunity for mobile operators to showcase the speed and utility of their data networks for helping people stay connected, Strategy Analytics said.
