Media tablets, 4G LTE biggest game-changers

Julian Philips, VP of Product Management and Product Marketing

Two of the biggest game-changers for the rest of this year and beyond are the continued rise of media tablets and 4G LTE wireless network infrastructure, according to ABI Research, a market intelligence company specializing in global connectivity and emerging technology.

Those trends offer tremendous opportunities for brands, retailers, media companies and other content providers.

The firm predicts that mobile broadband revenues from the enterprise segment for cellular connectivity of laptops, netbooks, and media tablets will reach $36 billion worldwide. As it stands now, enterprise penetration of tablets is low. However, among those three product types, tablets are by far the fastest growing among both enterprise users and consumers.

Wireless carriers take note: a key component of enterprise tablet data plan adoption is pricing. Mobile operators that cater to early adopters in the sales, management and professional services segment are getting them to buy tablets with data plans. The research firm predicts that more field force personnel will be mobilized, with more many companies buying tablets for their employees who are frequently on the go.

North America and the Asia-Pacific region will get the biggest share of mobile broadband revenues from media tablets.
An important driver of tablet consumption in the U.S and Canada will be 4G networks.

LTE is gaining momentum quickly in 2011. Currently 12 countries have commercial LTE services, according to ABI Research.
The research firm projects that by the end of the year, there will be more than 16 million subscribers using LTE mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

LTE services are poised to open up a wide range of business models.
A key success factor for LTE will be LTE smartphones, per ABI Research, which notes that the shift to 4G differs from the shift to 3G because of smartphones’ impressive capabilities.

Due to heavy cross-channel marketing of 4G smartphones by handset manufacturers and carriers, in the U.S., consumers are actively seeking out 4G as a handset feature.

The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) reported that there were 100 LTE-ready devices in March 2011. Only 13% were smartphones and media tablets, but these mobile devices will see much higher volumes over the rest of 2011 and beyond. ABI projects that in 2014, more than 205 million LTE mobile devices will ship, 72% of which will be handsets.

Brands, retailers, media companies and content providers of all kinds must be ready for the host of new business opportunities that these trends will surely offer. They must innovate now to take advantage of the mobile revolution.