4G-5G Subscribers March 2022
LTE
By the end of Q4 2021 there were 6.83 billion LTE subscriptions worldwide, with nearly 789 million subscriptions were added in the preceding 12 months
LTE subscriptions now account for 67.1% of all global mobile subscriptions, however from 2023 the LTE market is forecast to decline slowly, as customers migrate to 5G.
The Asia-Pacific market makes up the vast majority of global LTE subscriptions at 66.5%
5G
5G subscriptions grew by 19.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to reach nearly 521 million globally.
5G will account for 39.4% of the global market by 2026.
Other
GSM subscriptions will fall from 11.3% to 3.7% by the end of 2026.
Likewise W-CDMA will decline from 15.2% to 6.9% in the same period.
Subscriber Forecast
According to its latest figures, globally Omdia forecasts there will be around 12.08 billion mobile subscriptions by the end of 2026. LTE is expected to reach its peak point in terms of technology market share at the end of 2021(at 67.7%), and to reach its peak point in terms of subscriber numbers at the end of 2022 (at 7.01 billion subscribers).
From 2023 the LTE market is forecast to start to decline slowly, as customers migrate to 5G.
Between end 2021 and end 2026, the share of the market represented by GSM subscriptions will fall from 11.3% to 3.7%, and the share represented by W-CDMA will decline from 15.2% to 6.9%%. By the end of 2026, 5G will account for 39.4% of the global market (at 4.76 billion subscriptions), although LTE will still be dominant at 49.9% of all global mobile subscriptions, falling from 67.7% in 2021.
4G-5G Subscribers March 2022
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