4G connections overtook 3G connections in Europe in 2017

"According to Dataxis  research, the total Mobile SIM market in Europe is becoming saturated, the subscriber growth is mostly due to rapid adoption of 4G and M2M.
At the end of 2017, there were 340 million 4G subscribers in Europe, accounting for 33 per cent of the total mobile subscribers (excluding M2M). 4G connections overtook 3G in 2017 and is expected to reach 64 per cent of the total by 2023 in Europe. M2M will grow at a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 9 per cent during the forecast period of 2017-23, accounting for 17 per cent of the total, reaching 193 million connections, in 2023."

Source:  Advanced Television, 25th July 2018

Global mobile data traffic grew 70% in 2012

"The Mobile Network in 2012
Global mobile data traffic grew 70 percent in 2012. Global mobile data traffic reached 885 petabytes per month at the end of 2012, up from 520 petabytes per month at the end of 2011.
Last year's mobile data traffic was nearly twelve times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000. Global mobile data traffic in 2012 (885 petabytes per month) was nearly twelve times greater than the total global Internet traffic in 2000 (75 petabytes per month).
Mobile video traffic exceeded 50 percent for the first time in 2012. Mobile video traffic was 51 percent of traffic by the end of 2012.
Mobile network connection speeds more than doubled in 2012. Globally, the average mobile network downstream speed in 2012 was 526 kilobits per second (kbps), up from 248 kbps in 2011. The average mobile network connection speed for smartphones in 2012 was 2,064 kbps, up from 1,211 kbps in 2011. The average mobile network connection speed for tablets in 2012 was 3,683 kbps, up from 2,030 kbps in 2011.
In 2012, a fourth-generation (4G) connection generated 19 times more traffic on average than a non-4G connection. Although 4G connections represent only 0.9 percent of mobile connections today, they already account for 14 percent of mobile data traffic.
The top 1 percent of mobile data subscribers generate 16 percent of mobile data traffic, down from 52 percent at the beginning of 2010. According to a mobile data usage study conducted by Cisco, mobile data traffic has evened out over the last year and is now lower than the 1:20 ratio that has been true of fixed networks for several years.
Average smartphone usage grew 81 percent in 2012. The average amount of traffic per smartphone in 2012 was 342 MB per month, up from 189 MB per month in 2011.
Smartphones represented only 18 percent of total global handsets in use in 2012, but represented 92 percent of total global handset traffic. In 2012, the typical smartphone generated 50 times more mobile data traffic (342 MB per month) than the typical basic-feature cell phone (which generated only 6.8 MB per month of mobile data traffic).
Globally, 33 percent of total mobile data traffic was offloaded onto the fixed network through Wi-Fi or femtocell in 2012. In 2012, 429 petabytes of mobile data traffic were offloaded onto the fixed network each month. Without offload, mobile data traffic would have grown 96 percent rather than 70 percent in 2012.
Android is now higher than iPhone levels of data use. By the end of 2012, average Android consumption exceeded average iPhone consumption in the United States and Western Europe.
In 2012, 14 percent of mobile devices and connections were potentially IPv6-capable. This estimate is based on network connection speed and OS capability.
In 2012, the number of mobile-connected tablets increased 2.5-fold to 36 million, and each tablet generated 2.4 times more traffic than the average smartphone. In 2012, mobile data traffic per tablet was 820 MB per month, compared to 342 MB per month per smartphone.
There were 161 million laptops on the mobile network in 2012, and each laptop generated 7 times more traffic than the average smartphone. Mobile data traffic per laptop was 2.5 GB per month in 2012, up 11 percent from 2.3 GB per month in 2011.
Nonsmartphone usage increased 35 percent to 6.8 MB per month in 2012, compared to 5.0 MB per month in 2011. Basic handsets still make up the vast majority of handsets on the network (82 percent)."
Source:  Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012–2017, 6th February 2013

There are 193m 3G subscribers in China

"China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released its August 2012 telecom industry statistics. The figures for the month were as follows:
[...]
Total telephone subscribers saw a net increase of 9.21 mln in August to reach 1.354 bln. Mobile subscribers grew by 10.21 mln to 1.072 bln, and fixed-line subscribers dropped by 1.01 mln to 282.18 mln. Broken down by traditional fixed-line and PHS, the traditional (i.e. non-PHS) fixed-line subscriber base decreased by 678,000 to 268.39 mln, while the PHS subscriber base declined by 328,000 subs to 13.79 mln. 8.80 mln new 3G subscribers were added in August to reach a total 3G user base of 192.56 mln.
A total of 73.07 bln SMS messages were sent during the month of August, bringing the total for the first 8 months of 2012 to 597.58 bln, a 3.9% increase over the figure during the same period of 2011.
Broadband added 1.86 mln new registered users in August to reach a total of 168.29 mln. Dial-up decreased by 1.02 mln users, reducing the total dial-up user base to 4.70 mln."
Source:  MIIT via Marbridge Daily, 21st September 2012

There are 176m 3G subscribers in China

"Total telephone subscribers saw a net increase of 11.01 mln in June to reach 1.335 bln. Mobile subscribers grew by 11.26 mln to 1.052 bln, and fixed-line subscribers dropped by 249,000 to 283.31 mln. Broken down by traditional fixed-line and PHS, the traditional (i.e. non-PHS) fixed-line subscriber base increased by 180,000 to 268.75 mln, while the PHS subscriber base declined by 429,000 subs to 14.56 mln. 9.08 mln new 3G subscribers were added in June to reach a total 3G user base of 175.75 mln.
A total of 75.21 bln SMS messages were sent during the month of June, bringing the total for the first 6 months of 2012 to 450.76 bln, a 5.2% increase over the figure during the same period of 2011.
Broadband added 2.50 mln new registered users in June to reach a total of 164.03 mln. Dial-up decreased by 9,000 users, reducing the total dial-up user base to 5.74 mln."

Source:  MIIT, via Marbridge Daily, 24th July 2012

95m smartphones were shipped in China in H1 2012

"China's national handset shipments reached 194.91 mln units in H1 2012, with 3G handsets reaching 106.87 mln, accounting for 58%, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's (MIIT) China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR).
166 new 3G handset models were released in June, exceeding the number of new 2G handsets for the first time on record. GSM products accounted for 39% of total new products, followed by WCDMA (31%), TD-SCDMA (14%), CDMA2000 EV-DO (13%), and CDMA 1X (3%).
2,099 new handset models were released in China during H1 2012, including 1,298 2G handset models and 801 3G handset models. GSM handset models accounted for 1,272 (60.6%), followed by WCDMA with 476 (22.7%), CDMA2000 EV-DO with 174 (8.3%), TD-SCDMA with 151 (7.2%), and CDMA 1X with 26 new handset models (1.2%).
Of the 2,099 new models released in H1 2012, 822 were smartphones, accounting for 39.2%, 801 or 97.4% of which were Android smartphones. Domestic brand handsets accounted for 75% of total handsets shipped.
[...]
Total smartphone shipments reached 94.86 mln units in H1 2012, accounting for 48.7% of total handset shipments. Smartphone shipments first surpassed shipments of feature phones in April, with market share growing over 50% for three consecutive months and reaching 56.9% in June."

Source:  Netease Tech, 9th July 2012, via Marbridge Daily

There are 167m 3G connections in China

"Of the combined total of 166.93 mln 3G subs, China Mobile holds 38.50%, China Unicom 32.65%, and China Telecom 28.85%. Of total new mobile subs added in May, China Mobile took 45.73%, dropping its share of China's total mobile user base to 65.48%. China Unicom's share of the total mobile user base increased for the 16th straight month, rising from 20.78% at the end of April to 20.86% at the end of May, while China Telecom's share increased for the 41st straight month, rising from 13.53% at the end of April to 13.66% at the end of May."

Source:  Marbridge Consulting, 20th June 2012

3G penetration by market Q4 2011

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Source:  Data from Informa & WCIS+, taken from Mary Meeker & Liang Wu's Internet Trends presentation 2012, KPCB, May 2012

China has 152m 3G subscribers

"Of China's combined total of 151.97 mln 3G subs [at the end of March], China Mobile holds 39.19%, China Unicom 32.15%, and China Telecom 28.66%. Of total new mobile subs added in March, China Mobile took 45.25%, dropping its share of China's total mobile user base to 65.9%. China Unicom's share of the total mobile user base increased for the 14th straight month, rising from 20.6% at the end of February to 20.69% at the end of March, while China Telecom's share increased for the 39th straight month, rising from 13.24% at the end of February to 13.42% at the end of March."

Source:  Marbridge Daily, 27th April 2012

Earlier - 128m at end of December

European Mobile Benchmarks February 2012

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Source:  Data from comScore for the 3 months to February 2012, reported in a press release, 26th April 2012

China has 128m 3G subscribers

"China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has revealed that at the end of 2011, China had over 128 mln 3G subscribers. Included in this figure are 51.21 mln TD-SCDMA subscribers, or approximately 40% of total 3G subscribers, 40.02 mln WCDMA subscribers, and 37.19 mln CDMA2000 EV-DO subscribers."

Source:  CCTime, via Marbridge Daily, 18th January 2012
Previously - 110m at the end of October

More smartphones were shipped to China in Q3 2011 than to the US

"China has overtaken the U.S. as the largest market for smartphones by volume, according to one firm’s estimates.
Nearly 24 million smartphones were shipped to providers in China during the third quarter of 2011, compared to 23.3 million units in the U.S., data from Boston-based research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics suggests.The growth of China’s smartphone market has been significant, up 58% from just the previous quarter. Shipments of smartphones in the U.S. fell 7% from Q2 2011.
(Note the firm’s estimates only calculate the number of devices shipped, not sold, and that the U.S. still leads the market by smartphone revenue.)"
Source:  Mashable, 23rd November 2011

European Mobile Benchmarks September 2011

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Source:  Data from comScore for the 3 months to September 2011, reported in a press release, 21st November 2011

There are 110m 3G subscriptions in China

"Of the combined total of 109.67 mln 3G subs, China Mobile holds 41.3%, China Unicom 30.2%, and China Telecom 28.4%. Of total new mobile subs added in October, China Mobile took 44.57%, dropping its share of China's total mobile user base to 67.14%. China Unicom's share of the total mobile user base rose to 20.22%, while China Telecom's share increased for the 34th straight month, rising from 12.45% at the end of September to 12.64% at the end of October."

Source:  Marbridge Consulting, 21st November 2011

3G penetration by market, Q2 2011

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Source:  Data from Informa & WCIS+, taken from Mary Meeker's Internet Trends presentation 2011, KPCB, October 2011

340 new smartphone models were released in China in Q1-Q3 2011

"Cao Shumin, director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's (MIIT) China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR), said recently that between Q1-Q3 this year, 340 new smartphone models were released on the China market, up 100% YoY. Cao said that smartphones held 10% of the total handset market during the same period, adding that 80% of domestic smartphones sold were Android-based.
Domestic smartphone production grew rapidly between Q1-Q3 2011 to reach 70 mln units, or 22% of all new handsets, nearly double that for the first nine months of 2010. Cao said that China's domestic tablet market is still in its early stages, but that currently there are about 20 models that combined for total production of approximately 1 mln units over the first nine months of 2011."

Source:  Zol.com.cn, via Marbridge Daily, 21st October 2011

Smartphone operating system shares in Europe

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Source:  Press release from comScore, based on their MobiLens service, 13th September 2011
Based on UK, France, Germany, Italy & Spain only

There are 94m 3G subscriptions in China

"Of the combined total of 93.8 mln 3G subs, China Mobile holds 43%, China Unicom 29.7%, and China Telecom 27.2%."
Source:  Data from Marbridge Consulting, 20th September 2011
Follow the link for lots more mobile data

45% of British internet users sometimes connect through mobile

"Almost half of UK internet users are going online via mobile phone data connections, according to the Office for National Statistics.
45% of people surveyed said they made use of the net while out and about, compared with 31% in 2010.
The most rapid growth was among younger people, where 71% of internet-connected 16 to 24-year-olds used mobiles.
Domestic internet use also rose. According to the ONS, 77% of households now have access to a net connection.
That figure was up 4% from the previous year, representing the slowest rate of growth since the ONS survey began in 2006.
Among the 23% of the population who remain offline, half said they "didn't need the internet.""
Source:  Data from the Office of National Statistics, reported by BBC News, 31st August 2011

A third of American iPhone owners think their phone uses 4G

Click to enlarge

"Maybe the “4” in the iPhone 4 name gives iPhone owners (34%) the false impression that they already own a 4G phone but the fact is Apple doesn’t offer a 4G phone at the moment. Coincidentally, a suspiciously large percentage of Android and BlackBerry owners may be suffering from the same delusion. BlackBerry owners (24%) are almost as confused as iPhone owners since RIM doesn’t currently offer a 4G phone. At least some Android owners could be answering correctly as Android 4G phones like the HTC Evo 4G or Samsung Infuse 4G have been available for some time. If nothing else this large number of “misinformed” phone owners serves to emphasize the fact that consumers are quite confused about 4G."

Source:  Data from Restivo, reported on their blog, 5th July 2011

Methodology:  "The Retrevo Gadgetology Report is an ongoing study of people and electronics from the consumer electronics shopping and review site Retrevo.com. The data for this report came from a study of online individuals conducted exclusively for Retrevo in June of 2011, by an independent panel. The sample size was over 1,000 distributed across gender, age, income and location in the United States. Most responses have a confidence interval of 4% at a 95% confidence level."

There are 61.9m 3G subscribers in China

"Liu Lihua, China's deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology, recently revealed that as of the end of March 2011, China had 61.9 mln 3G mobile subscribers, including 26.99 mln TD-SCDMA subscribers."
Source:  Shanghai Securities News, reported by Marbridge Daily, 23rd April 2011