According to Infonetics Research, long term evolution (LTE)- time division duplex (LTE-TDD) smartphones shipment is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 96.3 per cent between 2013 and 2018.
Meanwhile, the shipment of LTE-frequency division duplex (LTE-FDD) smartphones will grow at a CAGR of 34.6 per cent, while TD-time division synchronous code division multiple access (SCDMA) smartphones shipments will increase at a CAGR of 3.8 per cent during the forecast period. However, W-code division multiple access (CDMA)/high speed packet access smartphone growth will decline by 13.2 per cent, while CDMA 2000/EV-DO devices will decline by 19.1 per cent between 2013 and 2018.
Further, the research firm states that in the first quarter of 2014, the revenue from LTE-FDD smartphone segment declined by 14 per cent quarter-over-quarter to $43 billion. The only smartphone technologies to grow sequentially in the quarter under review were SCDMA-TDD and LTE-TDD. Meanwhile, in the USB card segment, LTE-FDD cards accounted for 44 per cent of the total revenue.
Infonetics research concludes that low-cost, entry-level devices based on W-CDMA are growing in popularity, particularly with a strong marketing push from China-based original equipment vendors. Going forward, the research firm expects LTE-TDD embedded tablets to grow at a CAGR of 155 per cent between 2013 and 2018.
