U.S. market reclaims mobile data lead

Mobile data revenues in the United States grew by 23% in 2010 to $55 billion overall, according to the latest report from Chetan Sharma Consulting. The fourth quarter of 2010 tallied $14.8 billion in revenue from mobile data services, marking a 5% increase from the previous quarter. Sharma expects mobile data revenues to eclipse $67 billion this year.
Connected devices command the fastest growing segment for mobile data and there’s growing popular opinion in the industry about the opportunity in this space.
“While the ARPUs are low, due to higher margins this segment will prove to be the most profitable in the coming years,” Sharma writes in his latest U.S. Mobile Data Market Update. Interestingly, postpaid subscriptions in the connected device category only grew 3% in 2010. These devices, which include tablets, machine-to-machine gear, e-readers and others, represent 7% of the mobile data base in the U.S. market today. This segment should reach double digit market share by the end of 2011, Sharma concludes.
Data consumption grew at all U.S. networks in 2010 to the tune of two- to five-fold and most smart phones introduced in the second half of 2010 are averaging at least 1 gigabyte of data usage every month. Average data consumption overall hit 350 megabytes per month.
The most telling line in Sharma’s research hits right at the heart of what every operator is struggling with: “While data revenues for the year increased 23%, the mobile data traffic grew 132%.”
Smart phones are expected to use more data than data cards for the first time this year and the United States will become the No. 1 nation in terms of mobile data consumption, Sharma predicts.
Finally, the United States is reemerging as the dominant region in mobile technology and market strength, according to Sharma. “There is no question that the center of gravity of the mobile market has shifted back to the United States,” he wrote.
While innovation is happening around the world and other countries are more advanced in some respects, software and next-generation networks are roundly represented in the United States. U.S. operators can also lay claim to generating the most revenue from mobile data. Though U.S. subscribers only represent 6% of the global mobile data base, it comprises more than 21% of data revenues, according to Sharma.
Chalk it up to operational prowess or consistent pressure on ARPU (average revenue per user), but Sharma’s conclusion is emboldened by the fact the top U.S. carriers are jumping ahead in global data revenue rankings as well. Verizon Wireless took over the No. 1 spot, beating the decade-long leader NTT DoCoMo and AT&T Mobility pulled ahead China Mobile for the No. 3 spot.