Mobile Infrastructure Down 14 Percent in 1Q12, Set to Grow to $17.5B by 2016

Infonetics Research has released its "2G, 3G, 4G (LTE and WiMAX) Infrastructure and Subscribers" market share and forecast report, which states that the global 2G, 3G and 4G equipment market decreased by 14 percent to just under $10 billion in the first quarter of this year, after the previous quarter saw an eight-percent increase.

“The overall mobile infrastructure market took a beating in the first quarter of 2012,” Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at Infonetics Research, said in press release. “We saw weak 2G and 3G activity across the board, exacerbated by China Mobile’s dramatic GSM pause on the heels of extraordinary shipment levels in the previous quarter. LTE and WiMAX equipment revenue also declined sequentially. Nonetheless, LTE spending is up 128 percent from the year-ago first quarter, and the number of mobile operators committing to LTE continues to increase rapidly. Infonetics forecasts the LTE equipment market to grow to $17.5 billion in 2016.”

The forecast report also states that the overall 2G, 3G and 4G market, including WiMAX and LTE equipment, is down eight percent from a year-ago this quarter. However, 3G mobile packet core network equipment – GGSNs, SGSNs, PDSNs – was up four percent sequentially in the first quarter and up five percent from first quarter 2011, suggesting ongoing 3G expansion.

The report also states that 319 mobile operators worldwide have committed to LTE as of early May 2012, up from 285 in the previous quarter. Lastly, first quarter saw Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent battle it out in the race for global LTE leadership with neither gaining a significant advantage over the other.

Infonetics Research also released this week excerpts from its first quarter 2012 "Service Provider VoIP and IMS Equipment and Subscribers" vendor market share and forecast report. According to Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research, first quarter saw the "largest order of IMS core equipment and application server licenses on record, secured by Alcatel-Lucent – a clear sign that operators in North America are gearing up for voice over LTE (VoLTE) deployments."