According to Strategy Analytics, sales of mobile broadband devices, including cellular USB modems, mobile hotspot devices, PC cards, and embedded PC modems, grew by 15% in 2011, after several years of strong growth. This increase was driven by a desire for ubiquitous connectivity, emerging LTE networks and sales of tablets and other CE devices. Among SA's findings:
- Mobile broadband device sales reached 112 million units in 2011, up 15% over 2010. Competitive pricing driven by the major Chinese OEMs resulted in significantly lower average selling prices (ASP) in 2011.
- Huawei and ZTE continued to dominate the overall market in 2011, increasing their combined market share to more than 80% in 2011.
- Global cellular hotspot routers, known as Mi-Fi, provided major growth opportunities for top OEMs, including Huawei, Novatel and ZTE, especially in the United States.