Global Small Cell Market 2017-2021

Global small cell market overview

Technavio’s market research analyst predicts the global small cell market size to grow steadily at a CAGR of around 19% by 2021. The advances made in the mobile broadband technology is one of the primary factors fueling the small cell market growth. Mobile broadband technology and LTE for transmitting high-speed data, video, and voice, have become the mainstream standard for mobile communication. Also, advances in existing technologies such as land mobile radio (LMR) systems have augmented the demand for such services for public safety. Numerous public safety agencies are focusing on improving the security of their systems, which further boosts the market demand for advanced technologies such as LTE and voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE). The ability to provide quicker user experience even from a low power, cost-effective location will augment the small cell market’s growth over the next few years.

In terms of geography, the Americas accounted for the maximum small cell market share during 2016. Factors such as increased penetration of Internet-enabled devices, growth in mobile data traffic, and availability of faster Internet connections drive the market growth in the Americas. The US contributes the maximum revenue to the market. However, due to market saturation in the region and the rapid growth rate in shipments and deployment of 3G small cells and 4G/LTE small cells globally, the growth rate of the America is expected to decline over the next few years.

Competitive landscape and key vendors

According to Technavio’s small cell market analysis report, this industry  is seeing intense competition among vendors because of the presence of multiple players. To succeed in such an intensely competitive environment, it is imperative for vendors to distinguish their product and service offerings through a clear and unique value proposition. Vendors compete in this market by offering products with various features such as innovative product features, enhanced quality, and low selling price, backed by efficient distribution services. To gain a competitive edge in the market and to minimize any adverse impact on existing product lines, vendors are compelled to develop new and better technologies constantly.

Leading vendors in the market are -

• Cisco
• Ericsson
• Huawei
• Nokia
• ZTE

Other prominent vendors in the small cell market include Airspan, Alpha Networks, American Tower, Argela, Broadcom, CommScope, D-Link, Edgewater Wireless Systems, EION Wireless, Gemtek Technology, GENBAND, Handlink Technologies, Hay Systems, HPE, Hitachi, ip.access, Juni Global, NEC, Qualcomm, Quortus, Rakon, Ruckus Wireless, SpiderCloud Wireless, TEKTELIC Communications, Texas Instruments, and Ubiquiti Networks.

Segmentation by technology and the small cell market analysis

• 2G
• 3G
• 4G/LTE

During 2016, the 3G small cell segment dominated the small cell market and accounted for a major part of the overall market share. Such dominance in the market is due to the rapid growth in shipments and deployment of 3G small cells in the global market. The demand for 3G small cell is predominantly from developed regions such as the US, Japan, South Korea, China, and Western Europe. The W-CDMA/HSPA 3G femtocell revenue is expected to account for the majority of the femtocell market revenue in the coming years.

Segmentation by product and analysis of the small cell market

• Femtocell
• Microcell
• Metrocell
• Picocell

In this market study, analysts have estimated the femtocell segment to dominate the small cell market during the forecast period. High adoption of smart computing devices and increase in applications of smartphone for availing value-added services (VAS), are the primary factors contributing to the growth of this segment. Also, vendors are actively promoting the adoption of femtocells as these help network operators to provide better coverage. The increasing adoption of femtocells to reduce call charges and experience better data transfer speeds for video downloading and gaming will contribute significantly to the femtocell market segment in the next few years.

Key questions answered in the report include

• What will the small cell market status,market size, market forecast and the growth rate be in 2021?
• What are the key factors driving the global small cell market?
• What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the global small cell market?
• What are the challenges to small cell market growth?
• Who are the key vendors in the global small cell market?
• What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the global small cell market?
• Trending factors influencing the market shares of the Americas, APAC, and EMEA.
• What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the global small cell market?