4G femtocell market estimation by Infonetics: 165% CAGR from 2012 to 2017

Date: 07/03/2013
Market research firm Infonetics finds in its latest study 4G femtocell revenue is growing at a 165% 5-year compound annual growth rate from 2012 to 2017.

“Femtocell sales are up for the third straight quarter and on a year-over-year basis, though growth to this point is modest for a market that’s still in evolution,” reports Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave and carrier WiFi at Infonetics Research. “Price-per-unit is eroding and shipment volumes are rising, but both are intrinsically linked and neither has happened fast enough to drive a more rapid acceleration in adoption to date.”

Webb adds: “That said, we believe femtocells have sufficient market drivers and support among operators to sustain continuous annual revenue and unit growth through at least 2017, starting with a very big 2013, driven by strong 3G femto sales and fast-ramping 4G femtos.”

The other highlights of the report shared by Infonetics include:
Globally, the femtocell equipment market, including 2G, 3G, and 4G femtocells, is up 66% in 4Q12 from 3Q12
For the full year 2012, the femtocell market totaled $425 million, up 21% from a year ago
Public space femtocells accounted for slightly more revenue than consumer femtocells in 2012
While only 3% of units shipped in 2012 were integrated femtocells—meaning femtocell technology built into broadband CPE like DSL routers/gateways—Infonetics anticipates they will be widely adopted over the long term, eventually making up about half of all units by 2017
The top 3 femtocell market share leaders in 4Q12 and for the full year 2012 are Airvana, Samsung, and Cisco/ip.access