Wireless Research Roundup

location based services

Several research reports focused on the wireless sector have been introduced lately. Here's a glimpse into two such reports, one outlining growth in the global handset market by In-Stat and another predicting W-CDMA/HSDPA revenue growth in 2006 by Telecom Trends International.

In-Stat, which is owned by the same parent as Wireless Week, is calling for 23 percent year-over-year growth in the global wireless handset market in 2006. The firm predicts the market will grow to $136 billion this year and skyrocket to $250 billion by 2011.

Growth, however, is contingent on manufacturers putting out phones without making the phones too complex. Consumers are ripe for location-based services (LBS) and Bluetooth, according to the study, which also points to an expected decline in cameraphone use.

M-commerce applications will be hot, as will phones with more security features, the report says.

In unit terms, the global handset market is expected to double in 2011 from 935 million units this year. Smartphones will account for 480 million units by 2011.

In a separate study, Telecom Trends International predicts W-CDMA/HSDPA infrastructure revenue will account for more than 32 percent of the vendor revenue generated this year. Vendor-generated revenue is forecast at $68.5 billion for 2006. In 2012, high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) deployments are expected to account for more than 60 percent of revenue from mobile infrastructure, according to Telecom Trends.

The research firm calculates that more than 100 W-CDMA/HSDPA networks have been deployed as of April 2006. In terms of vendors, Ericsson owns a 24-percent share of the market, making it the leader in the space, according to the report. The marriage between Lucent and Alcatel, however, could threaten Ericsson's lead, Telecom Trends says.