According to the Ericsson Mobility Report 2014, about 90 per cent of the global population over the age of 6 years will have a mobile phone by 2020, while the smartphone subscriptions will increase to reach 6.1 billion. Meanwhile, the mobile video traffic will increase tenfold and constitute about 55 percent of all mobile data traffic by 2020.
The report suggested that the smartphone sales have continued to grow and increased their share from 55 per cent of total mobiles sold in the quarter ended September 2013 to around 65-70 percent in the quarter ended September 2014. Meanwhile, the fastest growth for new mobile subscriptions was experienced in India and China, with net additions of 18 million and 12 million respectively, in July-September 2014. However, despite this increased rate of sales, the report believes that there is still growth potential in the sector as smartphones currently account for only 37 per cent of all global mobile phone subscriptions.
The report adds that video dominates mobile networks, especially in 4G-dominated networks and currently constitutes 45-55 percent of mobile traffic in the world. It further states that by 2020, 5G will be commercially deployed internationally, and these services will have a faster uptake than 4G LTE, just as 4G had a faster uptake than 3G.
