Just at the beginning
Market research commissioned by the GSMA (which represents the interests of worldwide mobile operators) has set a new record for extrapolation. The study has estimated the size of the mobile connected device market in 2020.
Before we continue, we agree that such extrapolations are, at best, educated guess work. But in this case, we believe such a big picture snapshot is still worth looking at from time to time, just to remind us of the scale of the market we're addressing.
For the purpose of this report, the GSMA defines a mobile connected device as one that contains a SIM card, while a connected device encompasses all methods of connecting to the net. The total number of mobile connected devices is expected to double from six billion today, to 12 billion by 2020. This is expected to present a total revenue opportunity for mobile operators of $1.2 trillion, a sevenfold increase on this year.
"We are entering the next phase in the development of the mobile industry, one where we will see mobile connect everything in our lives," said Michael O'Hara, CMO of the GSMA. "However, capitalising on this enormous opportunity requires collaboration across the entire ecosystem to demonstrate how mobile technology in everything from tablet PCs to new healthcare devices can enhance people's personal and business lives."
"There is incredible potential for wireless innovation across so many verticals, from healthcare to automotive to consumer electronics," said Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices at AT&T. "All types of customers are quick to realise the benefits of embedded mobile technology in everyday products, and this is going to lead to an explosion of creativity and adoption. We've made great progress embedding wireless into navigation, tracking, gaming and entertainment devices, but we've just scratched the surface here. There are so many exciting possibilities."
The general feeling is that despite the prominence mobile devices already have, we're still at the infancy of this industry. As connectivity grows ever more ubiquitous, the opportunities will increase exponentially - as you would expect of a network. It's going to be fascinating to see how things develop.
Here's the broad geographical breakdown of how the study reckons this $1.2 trillion will be broken down:
- Asia Pacific: US$447 billion
- Europe: US$305 billion
- Latin America: US$92 billion
- Middle East & Africa: US$87 billion
- North America: US$241 billion
