The total number of mobile VoIP users will reach 288 million by the end of 2013, according to the market research firm In-Stat. Of that number, well over half will be associated with online mobile VoIP providers; under one-third will utilize mobile VoIP with 3G and 11% with WiMAX/LTE operators.
In terms of geography, mobile VoIP will be heavily biased towards the Asia Pacific region, particularly among the online mobile VoIP services.
Some other In-Stat findings:
- Mobile VoIP applications will generate annual revenues of $35.2 billion by 2013.
- While the EMEA region has more mobile VoIP related revenue currently, Asia Pacific will be the largest regional market in revenue terms by 2013.
- Dual-mode handsets (Wi-Fi + Cellular) will be well over 400 million units shipped in 2013.
Personally, I believe mobile VoIP is here to stay, whether carriers like it or not. And they seem to begin to realize users want more affordable VoIP services, hence we had Verizon and Skype announcing a partnership during the recently ended Mobile World Congress in Barcelona…