Date: 03/04/2011
Femtocell market forecast: 5 million shipments in 2012
Market research firm Infonetics Research has reported it latest market research data on 2G/3G/4G Femtocell Equipment. The report covers market share, size, and forecast data on femtocells for CDMA, W-CDMA/HSPA, and CDMA2000/EV-DO networks, and later will track 4G femtocells based on WiMAX and LTE.
The highlights shared by Infonetics Research include:
Worldwide revenue from 2G and 3G femtocells sold for use in CDMA, W-CDMA/HSPA, and CDMA2000/EV-DO networks grew 121.5% and the number of units sold for revenue grew 204% in 2010 over 2009, from a small base.
The number of femtocell units sold doubled between 4Q09 and 4Q10.
Quarter-over-quarter, the number of femtocell units sold increased 21% and revenue grew just 1% in 4Q10 over 3Q10, reflecting the decline in unit prices.
Samsung took the #1 spot in femtocell revenue market share in 4Q10, followed closely by Alcatel-Lucent and NEC.
As the femtocell market evolves and more operators launch services, strong fluctuations in market share and leaderboard positions are expected.
Femtocell average revenue per unit (ARPU) will continue to erode, with the industry focused on the magic number of US$100, expected to be reached in 2011 (some vendors have already achieved this).
As of early 2011, no next-generation 4G (WiMAX or LTE) femtocell services have been deployed, but tier 1 mobile operators have expressed the view that LTE and subsequent high-capacity air interfaces are most likely to be deployed through hierarchical cell structures, including femtocells.
"Traction is coming to the femtocell market, but slowly: with over 1.37 million units shipped in 2010 for revenue (not including non-revenue shipments for trials and soft launches), the market is now underway, but through 2011 there will still be too few operators active in this space to drive rapid acceleration. We expect this to come in 2012, when femtocell shipments should exceed 5 million worldwide, driven by a diversification from the consumer and enterprise segments to rural and public spaces," predicts Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave at Infonetics Research.
Infonetics Research website is www.infonetics.com
There is a free market research report available on femtocells with title "Femtocell Market Status" from Femtoforum at URL http://www.femtoforum.org/femto/Files/File/Informa%20Femtocell%20Market%20Status%20Q1%202010%20F.pdf