Worldwide cellular broadband chipset shipments is expected to grow 35% year over year through 2014, according to a new report from market intelligence firm IDC.
The study found that greater percentage of cellular chipsets are being used in non-mobile phone applications such as mobile computing (notebooks, netbooks), industrial/machine-to-machine, automotive, health/medical and consumer devices (eReaders, MIDs, gaming devices).
According to IDC, the cellular chipsets will grow at a 9.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2009 to 2014 and the cellular broadband market will grow at a 35% CAGR to account for over 16% of total chipsets by 2013 outpacing the growth of mobile phone market. The broadband market share up less than 7% of unit volume in 2009.
The firm said that the strong growth in cellular broadband, primarily driven by portable PCs, mini notebooks, and mobile internet devices (MIDs)/smartbooks will help accelerate the migration of this segment from 2G and 2.5G technologies to 3.5G and 4G technologies over the next several years. The rollout of LTE is expected to enhance the migration starting in 2011.
Flint Pulskamp, wireless semiconductor analyst at IDC, said: “Cellular broadband chipsets can provide the all-important data connectivity to other devices, especially to the internet, that consumers are increasingly demanding as they migrate from fixed/wired devices to mobile/handheld devices.
“There is strong appeal for real-time data connectivity and access not only in traditional computing devices like notebooks, but also in a number of emerging markets such as medical/health monitoring, industrial/M2M, as well as a growing array of consumer products such as eReaders.”
