According the recent forecasts from ABI Research, EDGE-enabled handset shipments will reach 148 million in 2006, representing 14% of the total mobile phone market.
Principal analyst Stuart Carlaw pointed out that EDGE is downplayed in the market because it cannot really provide a mobile broadband experience and is therefore not seen as being at the cutting edge of cellular handset evolution. Furthermore, it is viewed purely as an evolutionary step on the GSM ladder, and industry attention is very much focused on the newer technologies such as W-CDMA and HSDPA, plus operators do not actively report EDGE numbers in the public domain.
However, research director Jake Saunders, argues that this lack of general market attention belies the real importance of the role EDGE plays in delivering mobile services today and will play in the effective delivery of content in the network of tomorrow.
Apart from the sheer volume of EDGE handsets, the ABI Research analysts believe that the industry as a whole should pay more attention to this market because EDGE is the only choice for some carriers today to support any type of near-acceptable mobile broadband experience, especially those with no 3G licenses or those waiting for 4G.