By 2020 70% Of Population Will Be Using Smartphones, Data Usage To Increase Tenfold

Having taken over five years to reach the first billion smartphone subscriptions in 2012 and less than two years to reach the second billion, worldwide subscriptions will more than double in the next five years, according to Ericsson’s latest Mobility Report.Ericsson has forecast smartphone subscriptions will reach 6.1 billion in 2020, with 70 per cent of the world’s population to be using smartphones.

Almost 80 per cent of new subscriptions will come from the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, while growth in mature markets will come from an increasing number of devices per individual.

In turn, smartphone data usage is predicted to increase tenfold by 2020, with 80 per cent of all mobile data traffic to come from smartphones.

Ericsson has forecast mobile video traffic will grow 55 per cent per year, making up around 60 per cent of all mobile data traffic by 2020. Growth will largely be driven by shifting user preferences towards video streaming services, along with the increasing prevalence of video in online content, including news, advertisements and social media.

Ericsson’s findings show a significant proportion of traffic is generated by a limited number of subscribers in advanced mobile broadband markets, with heavy data users representing 10 per cent of total subscribers while generating 55 per cent of total data traffic.

Rima Qureshi, senior vice president, chief strategy officer, Ericsson, stated the “immense growth in advanced mobile technology and data usage, driven by a surge in mobile connectivity and smartphone uptake”, will make today’s big data revolution “feel like the arrival of a floppy disk”.

“We see the potential for mass-scale transformation, bringing a wealth of opportunities for telecom operators and others to capture new revenue streams,” Qureshi commented. “But it also requires greater focus on cost-efficient delivery and openness to new business models to compete and remain effective.”