Shipments of mobile broadband-enabled consumer devices will increase 55-fold between 2008 and 2014, according to a new forecast from ABI Research . The category–which includes eBook readers, mobile digital cameras and camcorders, personal media players (PMPs), personal navigation devices (PNDs) and mobile gaming devices–will see total shipments reach 58 million by 2014. Today, ABI researchers say, the strongest of these sub-categories are eBook readers and PNDs.
In a report titled “Mobile Broadband-Enabled Consumer Electronics,” ABI researchers also analyze the role of communications service providers in supporting these devices. Noting that some broadband-enabled devices have had Wi-Fi capability for some time, ABI Research Senior Analyst Jeff Orr says, “When you embed a cellular or mobile broadband modem in a device, it becomes tied to a particular operator’s service billing. That changes the device vendors’ business model dramatically.”
Orr applauds the example of the eBook reader, in which the price of the connection is built into the price of the content, arguing that this approach is acceptable to consumers. But he says other mobile data connectivity models are poorly matched to today’s mobile consumer devices.
“In the case of a multiplayer game, for example, questions arise,” Orr says. “Paying to download the game is straightforward, but beyond that what’s the appropriate model? Monthly subscription? Annual pass? Whom does the consumer pay? That very unfamiliar service aspect is scary for the device vendors.”
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