ABI Research: Cellular modem shipments exceeded 35 million in 2008

ABI Research’s findings suggest that the cellular modems for laptops and netbooks reached more than 35 million shipments last year. Of that total, the majority were the external USB modems mobile operators have been pushing for some time. In addition, the growth has been also bolstered as mobile operators bundled USB modems with netbooks in subsidized price plans.

There were also about 3.5 million embedded modems, built into the computers. Philip Solis, ABI’s principal analyst, says that after years of slow growth, the embedded cellular modem market is starting to show signs of life. “ABI Research expects that, building on a good showing of 3.5 million units in 2008, shipments of embedded modems will more than double in 2009,” he added.

Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) and Ericsson have been targeting the embedded modem market directly, positioning their products very competitively against each other. Operators around the world, especially in Western Europe, are subsidizing USB modems and offering premium data plans that include free netbook or laptop offering equipped with embedded modems.

However, the global recession is set to have an impact on the market. In that sense, ABI Research has lowered its overall forecasts for the cellular modem market for 2009. This doesn’t mean shipment rates won’t keep growing, quite the contrary — it’s the slower pace we’ll see this year.

More information about ABI’s report titled “Cellular PC Card Market Data” is available from their website.