Asia-Pacific mobile phone shipments will hit 836 million in 2016, driven by growth in mobile users in the emerging markets and the proliferation of broadband enabled handsets.
Ovum, in a new forecast, said that the AP mobile handset market is set for steady growth of 2.8% over the next five years, with shipments increasing by more than 128 million from 2011 to 2016.
Globally, Ovum forecasts a growth of 2.5% over the next five years, with shipments growing by more than 230 million from 2011 to 2016, forecasted to reach 1.77 billion in 2016.
“Much of the growth in AP will be fuelled by mobile connections in the emerging markets, where the number of mobile phone users continues to steadily increase,” said Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach. “Within the region, the Big Three markets of China, India and Indonesia will continue to be the growth engines for global mobile connections and handset shipments.”
However, operators switching to 3G and 4G mobile broadband networks will also play a key role. Ovum’s forecast shows that shipments of mobile broadband enabled handsets will grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.7% from 2011 to 2016, to reach 372 million units in AP.