Market research firm Infonetics Research released its third quarter (3Q09) Mobile Infrastructure and Subscribers market share and forecast report, which tracks mobile subscribers and macro radio access network (RAN), mobile switching subsystem, mobile packet core network, and home location register (HLR) equipment.

 ANALYST NOTE

“The mobile infrastructure market was marked in the third quarter by continuous 3G rollouts in China and sustainable activity in Japan and Vietnam. Most of the rest of the world was dormant, prolonging the pause in GSM upgrades, and creating potential pent-up demand that will need to be addressed over next year or so,” explains Stéphane Téral, Infonetics Research’s principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure.

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS

    * The overall mobile infrastructure market was down 8% sequentially in 3Q09 at $11 billion worldwide, but is down only 1% year-over-year
    * Mobile packet core network equipment continues to be one of the brightest spots of the mobile infrastructure market, driven by an unstoppable migration to IP, triggered by the rise of smartphone and data card usage
    * Following 5 consecutive quarters of growth, W-CDMA macro RAN equipment revenue finally slowed, decreasing 10% between 2Q09 and 3Q09
          o Year-over-year, the W-CDMA market is up 50%
    * Ericsson retains the top position in the massive macrocell RAN equipment market, with 36% of worldwide revenue
          o Meanwhile, the gap between Nokia Siemens, which lost share in 3Q09, and Huawei, which gained share, continues to tighten, and ZTE is right behind Alcatel-Lucent
    * The number of mobile subscribers is expected to reach 6 billion in 2013, driven by the basic need for voice service in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and Africa