Mobile Internet Service Revenue Reached the Size of Malaysia’s Economy in 2013

In 2013, global mobile Internet service revenue is estimated to have grown 23.4% to roughly US$300 billion, according to ABI Research, as wireless broadband subscription jumped 28.8% and the smartphone share of total subscriptions advanced by 6.6% to capture 27.5% of the overall pie. Despite the strong gains in mobile Internet, global wireless service revenue is expected to have grown just 3.2% to slightly over US$1 trillion. In 2014, mobile Internet related revenues will power ahead with growth in the 13 to 15% range. LTE is providing some upsell opportunities with multi-device plans and increased data quota plans, but by and large, 4G has not reversed the declining average revenue per user (ARPU) trend in most countries.

“The region that will contribute the most to the increase in mobile Internet service revenue is North America, despite the maturity of the North American market and that only 5.5% of global cellular subscriptions are based there,” comments Ying Kang Tan, research associate. “Higher smartphone penetration and increased mobile data consumption have helped the region to buck the declining ARPU trend. We expect ARPU in the region to rise in 2014 before declining again due to competition and lower revenue generating connections subscribing to mobile broadband.”

“When it comes to mobile data traffic growth, Asia-Pacific will lead the pack, generating 16.8 exabytes of traffic in 2014 for a 40.2% share,” notes Jake Saunders, VP and practice director. “After launching LTE services in late 2013, China will experience a surge in data traffic in 2014. Even mature markets like South Korea and Japan will continue to see strong growth as operators boost capacity with LTE-Advanced technologies.”

The “Mobile Carriers and Revenue” and “Mobile Data Traffic & Usage” Market Data provide a robust source of financial and operational benchmarks for regional and mobile carrier analysis. These findings are part of ABI Research’s Mobile ARPU and Mobile Traffic Research Services.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.