Global Microcell BTS Market Revenue to Hit $262 Million by 2018

A microcell is a low power cellular base station covering a limited area, and it is used by telecoms in mobile networks to service a specific location. By monitoring the power, operators are able to control the radius of its coverage area, thus providing targeted service to a venue such as an airport or sports facility. The technology is also used to increase capacity of cellular networks to offload usage during peak hours, but currently that doesn’t seem to have any impact on the growth of the global microcell base station market.

The new EJL Wireless Research titled “Global Microcell Base Station Market Analysis and Forecast, 3rd Edition, 2014-2018,” sees very low growth through the forecast period with a total of $262 million in revenue by 2018. The lack luster forecast is based on shipments still remaining small as the industry awaits volume deployments from around the world.

The volumes in 2014 continue to be low as delays by mobile operators in North America and Europe lingers, further dampening the market. According to EJL Wireless Research founder and President, Earl Lum, “we have significantly downgraded our views, forecasts, and revenue opportunities on the outdoor microcell market. It remains a waiting game for the industry.”

This downgrade is considerably lower from the same forecast the company made last year. In that forecast EJL had an optimistic outlook with the “Global Microcell Base Station Market Analysis and Forecast, 2nd Edition, 2013-2017” reporting the market would reach USD $3 billion by 2017.

Its key predictions were: global microcell BTS revenues of USD $3 billion by 2017; global W-CDMA/LTE microcell BTS revenues of USD $1.8 billion by 2017; global outdoor carrier-grade 802.11ac Wi-Fi BTS revenues of USD $1.2 billion by 2017; and Asia Pacific would be representing 57 percent of the overall market opportunity in 2017.

However, the key predictions for the 3rd Edition, 2014-2018 represent a market that has changed directions. This includes: global microcell BTS revenues of USD $262 million by 2018; insignificant outdoor carrier-grade 802.11ac Wi-Fi deployments by mobile operators; Asia Pacific and North America will drive volumes through 2018; and China will drive demand from 2014 through 2016.

The goal of any forecast is to look at the entire ecosystem of an industry as well as the economy as a whole to provide a well thought out market analysis based on the aggregated information.  It is integral to adopt a forecast that adapts to the ever-changing industry climate.