Facts and statistics about the mobile communications industry

With the increasing popularity of mobile devices, the demand for mobile communication technology continues to rapidly grow all around the world. The global mobile data traffic, for example, is forecast to increase from 3.7 exabytes per month in 2015 to 30.6 exabytes per month by 2020. Wireless data telecom services are projected to generate about 554 billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2019, a significant increase from the 2014 figure, when spending stood at about 393 billion U.S. dollars. As of June 2015, the number of mobile wireless subscriptions worldwide already was at around seven billion, with the GSM technology accounting for the majority of connections.

The penetration rate of mobile phones is also forecast to increase. About 67 percent of the total population is projected to own a mobile phone by 2019, which means there will be more than five billion mobile users in the world by that year. This growth also reflects on the number of mobile connections worldwide, which is forecast to increase from about four billion in 2008 to around nine billion by 2020. Samsung has been the leading global mobile phone vendor for the last few years. Nokia/Microsoft and Apple also hold a significant share of the mobile phone market.

The number of smartphones users is also projected to increase over the next few years, rounding up to more than 2.6 billion by 2019. About a quarter of them are expected to be located in China, which has superseded the United States as the world’s top smartphone market. India is also projected to pass the U.S. both in terms of shipments and number of smartphone users, and become the second largest smartphone market in the world. In terms of vendors, Samsung is the leading smartphone vendor in the world, followed by Apple and Huawei.

The mobile communication industry is dominated by giant telecom multinational companies. The leading telecommunication brands worldwide are AT&T;, Verizon, China Mobile, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom. Two American companies lead the rank; AT&T; with a brand value of almost 90 billion U.S. dollars, closely followed by Verizon, which’s valued at about 86 billion U.S. dollars.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

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