Most people think of tablet mobile devices as being truly mobile. And yet, the vast majority of them aren’t quite as mobile as one might think. How so? Because that vast majority isn’t truly usable anytime, anywhere – our definition of a true smart mobile device.
As it turns out, only 13 percent of the global tablet market is broadband-enabled. That vast majority we noted – 87 percent of the global tablet market – is only equipped with Wi-Fi, meaning of course that to use such a tablet wirelessly requires having access to a Wi-Fi hotspot.
As much as there are plenty of hotspots to find in one’s travel, it simply isn’t the same level of wireless access as having a true 3G wireless connection. A primary reason for this comes down to cost – broadband-enabled tablets require a separate data plan specifically created by the wireless operator for a given tablet. Most consumers – and more importantly most of the mobile (and BYOD) workforce – have to deal with sometimes substantial smartphone data plans, and adding additional wireless data costs for tablets simply becomes prohibitive.
Even so, that may be about to change – or at the very least we will see a small but non-trivial upward shift in the percentage of wireless broadband-equipped tablets that are fully broadband activated (some percentage of users will purchase broadband enabled tablets in anticipation of future broadband use, but many never activate them). A new Strategy Analytics report suggests that the broadband tablet market is heating up, and the report anticipates a substantial growth in such devices.
The report claims that over the next five years at least 150 million broadband devices with fully activated wireless data plans will appear worldwide. According to the Strategy Analytics report, by the end of 2017 there will be at least 172 million broadband-activated tablets in play. That is a 78-percent increase from the 22 million or so that are currently active.
One key new wireless operator change will certainly provide for its share of new tablet data plans – the move by AT&T to allow shared wireless data plans. This is an important change that will help families (and individuals within the defined families) to create better balanced wireless data usage. Even a small family plan that may only have one user sharing wireless data between a smartphone and a tablet (or other devices, such as Ultrabooks as well) will spur much greater tablet broadband use.
The second key here is both the rapidly growing availability of 4G/LTE and the availability of LTE support within the tablets themselves. The new iPad, for example, not only delivers a retina display, but added LTE support – as such we certainly expect to see more iPad wireless cellular activations than for the iPad 2. The wireless operators are certainly counting on new revenue from tablets, and the move to shared data plans and LTE will get them there.
A companion Strategy Analytics report indicates that LTE will quickly grow to account for almost 68 percent of mobile broadband tablet subscriptions by the end of 2017. Average data traffic per mobile user will grow accordingly, and will be driven in great part by increased use of wireless videoconferencing and wireless video streaming. Mobile data traffic from tablets will surge, according to Strategy Analytics, to more than 2.7 million Terrabytes in 2017 - an 80.4-percent CAGR from 2012. The wireless carriers will be thrilled to accommodate the new wireless traffic.
The United States is currently the country with the most mobile broadband tablet subscriptions – as is to be expected. Look for the Chinese market, which currently sits in second place, to probably eclipse the United States at some future point however. A recent report by Beijing-based market researcher Analysys International claims that iPads currently make up 72.6 percent of all tablets in China in Q2 2012 As iPads are responsible for more wireless data traffic than any other tablet globally, and as Apple’s products are expected to dominate in China for the foreseeable future, it is fairly obvious that tablet wireless data growth in China over the next five years will be huge.
For additional insights on the influence of LTE (including LTE availability on the new iPad) on wireless data usage growth, refer to a recent article of ours that looks at the growth patterns for wireless broadband and WI-Fi.
Want to learn more about today’s powerful mobile Internet ecosystem? Then be sure to attend the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5 2012, in Austin, TX. Co-sponsored by TMC Partner Crossfire Media the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo provides unmatched networking opportunities and a robust conference program representing the mobile ecosystem. The conference not only brings together the best and brightest in the wireless industry, it actually spans the communications and technology industry. For more information on registering for the Mobility Tech Conference & Expo click here.
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Tony Rizzo has spent over 25 years in high tech publishing and joins MobilityTechzone after a stint as Editor in Chief of Mobile Enterprise Magazine, which followed a two year stretch on the mobile vendor side of the world. Tony also spent five years as the Director of Mobile Research for 451 Research. Before his jump into mobility Tony spent a year as a publishing consultant for CMP Media, and served as the Editor in Chief of Internet World, NetGuide and Network Computing. He was the founding Technical Editor of Microsoft Systems Journal.Edited by
Braden Becker 
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