Analysts expect growth in mobile device sales to slow in the next 5 years

According to Ovum, a global analytics firm, sales of mobile devices will slow down in the next 5 years and average per-user revenue will continue to decline, so http://www.aliyun.com/zixun/aggregation/2875.html "> Mobile operators must prioritize innovation in services, tariffs, business models, network operations and partnerships to maintain and improve their revenue levels.

Ovum predicts that between 2012 and 2018, the number of global networks will increase from 6.5 billion to 8.1 billion, with a mixed annual growth rate of less than 4%, and that global mobile equipment sales will increase from 968 billion US dollars to 1.1 trillion US dollars, with a corresponding mixed annual growth rate of less than 2%.

However, global services revenues will fall for the first time in the history of the mobile industry in 2018, with a forecast of 7.8 billion dollars or 1% less than 2017.

For mobile manufacturers, the market has changed.

"When you compare connections and income, you can see clearly that mobile operators are facing a new problem: they have to spend less to do more," says Sara Kaufman, ovum Communications and broadband market analyst Sarakowman. Mergers will help ease market pressures, which are inevitable in many markets. But the stability of income will become an important factor for future sustainable development. ”

Kaufman says operators in developed countries are under the greatest pressure. Ovum's research data suggest that Western Europe's connections will grow by less than 1% a year in the next few years, with revenues falling 1.48% per cent.

Kaufman added that some other developed country markets, including the US, will have a year-on-year decline in revenues in 2018, and those markets will begin to show signs of maturing.

Ovum also said that a big part of the decline was due to the average per-user decline in income. The average per-user income for all regions is expected to continue to decline between 2012 and 2018. The Middle East will have the biggest decline, expected to fall by 2.5% per cent.

Still, Kaufman insists: "The average per-user income does not fall indefinitely." In markets where average per-user income is already very low, it will stabilise after bottoming out. ”

(Responsible editor: Lu Guang)