Internet of Things (IoT) are expected to overtake mobile phones by 2018, according to Ericsson Mobility Report.
16 billion connected devices will join the Internet of Things by the end of 2021.
Between 2015 and 2021, the number of IoT connected devices is expected to grow 23 percent annually, of which cellular IoT is forecast to have the highest growth rate. Of the 28 billion total devices that will be connected by 2021, close to 16 billion will be IoT devices.
The number of IoT devices in Western Europe is projected to grow 400 percent by 2021 — driven by regulatory requirements, and a growing demand for connected cars including the EU e-call directive to be implemented in 2018.
Smartphone subscriptions are forecast to surpass those for basic phones in Q3 this year. By 2021, smartphone subscriptions will almost double from 3.4 billion to 6.3 billion.
There are now 5 billion mobile subscribers.
Use of cellular data for smartphone video grew 127 percent in 15 months (2014-15). Over a period of four years (2011-15) there has been a 50 percent drop in the time teens spend watching TV/video on a TV screen, and in contrast an 85 percent increase in those viewing TV/video on a smartphone.
This, and the fact that the upcoming generation of mobile users are the heaviest consumers of data for smartphone video streaming (Wi-Fi and cellular combined), makes them the most important group for cellular operators to monitor.
In 2016, milestone will be passed with commercial LTE networks supporting downlink peak data speeds of 1 Gbps.
Devices that support 1 Gbps are expected in the second half of 2016, initially in markets such as Japan, US, South Korea and China, but rapidly spreading to other regions.
Mobile broadband subscriptions will grow fourfold in the Middle East and Africa between 2015 and 2021.
Mobile data traffic in India will grow fifteen times by 2021.
US mobile traffic will grow 50 percent in 2016 alone.
Global mobile data traffic grew 60 percent between Q1 2015 and Q1 2016, due to rising numbers of smartphone subscriptions and increasing data consumption per subscriber. By the end of 2021, around 90 percent of mobile data traffic will be from smartphones.
There were 150 million new LTE subscriptions during the first quarter of 2016 – driven by demand for improved user experience and faster networks – reaching a total of 1.2 billion worldwide. LTE peak data speeds of 1 Gbps are anticipated to be commercially available in 2016.
