China market: 3G subscribers to top 45 million by year-end 2010, says Digitimes Research
§ Latest news DIGITIMES Research special report - China white-box handset market
Advertisement Steve Shen, DIGITIMES, Taipei [Thursday 16 September 2010]
The number of 3G service subscribers in the China market is expected to top 44.8 million by the end of 2010, an increase of 339% from the 10.2 million recorded at the end of 2009, according to Digitimes Research analyst Roger Huang.
Network infrastructure roll-outs, an improvement in the availability of end-market devices, and subsidies offered by telecom carriers all contributed to the growing 3G market in China, Huang indicated.
As of the end of June 2010, China Mobile led the 3G service market in China with a 42% share, followed by China Unicom at 30% and China Telecom at 28%.
Due to strong support from the government and an aggressive subsidy policy, China Mobile is expected to see the number of its 3G subscribers reach 18.8 million by the end of 2010, Huang estimated.
While the total number of the 3G subscribers in China is likely to surpass the 100 million mark in 2012, the proportion of 3G users to the total number of mobile subscribers in China is growing slowly due to insufficient mobile application services which in turn have made the over 400 million 2G subscribers reluctant to shift to 3G services, Huang commented.
Prices of end market devices, the availability of application services, and the support of network capabilities will be the key factors contributing to a fast growth of the 3G market in China in the next 2-3 years, Huang said. |