In the global communications industry, 2014 will be a year of transformation, increased competition and innovation, particularly around mobile broadband and media, according to a new report from Pyramid Research that offers the firm’s top 14 predictions for 2014.
The report, Pyramid Research Predictions 2014: Global and Regional Trends in the Information, Communications and Technology Industry, provides key insights into top market trends, written by Pyramid’s worldwide team of research analysts and consultants.
“Each prediction is supported by fact-based analysis and has been arrived at through extensive discussions among our analysts and experts,” the firm said Thursday while releasing the study findings.
The report’s introduction, written by Pyramid Research’s Managing Director Daniel Amparán, also reviewed the firm’s 2013 predictions and how they matched up to actual events.
“A year ago, we predicted a number of relevant events that did take place in 2013, while missing others. However, relevant milestones we forecast in 2013 were achieved by the industry, with emerging markets continuing to drive growth and investment,” said Amparán.
“We anticipate that 2014 will be a year of transformation,” he said, adding: “The introduction of sub-$50 smartphones is one of the most transcendental events we expect will take place in 2014, as mass availability of smartphones will mean empowering under-penetrated populations and bringing them one step closer to the networked economy and its benefits.”
This new report includes other important predictions for 2014.
Globally, over 40 percent of some seven billion mobile subscriptions will be on 3G+ networks by year-end 2014, with LTE (Long Term Evolution technology) making up merely 4 percent of the total.
Across emerging markets, Pyramid said, Chinese device vendors led by Lenovo will make strong gains outside their home market, disrupting Apple’s and Samsung’s positions in the mid-range and high-end smartphone segments.
Also, by the end of 2014, almost one in every three mobile subscriptions in Africa and the Middle East will be on 3G or more advanced networks.
Furthermore, the impact of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil cannot be underestimated.
Pyramid expects that this event will give a 15 percent boost to mobile data revenue in the South American country and that nearly four million new pay-TV subscriptions will be added during 2014.
“Pyramid Research is the only firm in the industry with a heritage of more than 25 years in emerging markets. We are proud to be considered the partner of choice of industry leaders in the converged global communications, media and technology industries, and look forward to sharing our top predictions for this exciting year ahead,” said Amparán.
Recalling how a 6 June 2013 leak of the existence of a secret electronic surveillance programme sparked a global debate about privacy and security in electronic communications, Pyramid said that events like these were difficult to predict.
