According to the latest research data from Strategy Analytics, global LTE smartphone shipments will grow threefold from 90.9 million units in 2012 to 275 million units in 2013. This record breaking year will be led by major handset makers such as Apple, Samsung, LG and others.
Strategy Analytics’ Senior Analyst Neil Shah says that major countries will drive the LTE growth, including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, China and South Korea.
Another Neil (Mawston) from the research company, who serves as an Executive Director, thinks 2013 will be “the year of 4G,” with multiple operators and phone vendors launching dozens of LTE models across numerous countries worldwide. He added that with LTE becoming a high-growth, high-value market – no operator, service developer, component maker or device vendor will be able to afford to ignore it.
Finally, commenting on the market underdogs like Amazon and Mozilla, Strategy Analytics’ Analyst Linda Sui said they’ll have to strongly differentiate their offerings in areas such as design, price or services to be able to compete.
As usual, additional information is available from Strategy Analytics’ website.