In-Stat has released its shipment estimates for converged
cellular/Wi-Fi mobile phones and the numbers are good.
In-Stat argues that although Wi-Fi threatens carriers call
revenues by enabling VoIP, the network operators are likely to be compelled to offer
them because if they don't their competition just might.
This should push shipments of Wi-Fi mobile phones up to 132 million
devices by the end of the forecast period in 2010.
"In the end, most US cellular carriers will embrace
Wi-Fi in their handsets, as carriers know that if they don't, other carriers
will, and these carriers will likely steal away some of their customers,"
says Allen Nogee, In-Stat analyst.
Combo handsets also offer carriers opportunities to provide
services such as VoIP over Wi-Fi, lessening impact on their cellular data
system, says the report.
In-Stat has found that more than 20 handsets are already, or
will soon be, released with embedded Wi-Fi access. And some US mobile
network operators are planning to offer services that support voice calls over
both cellular and Wi-Fi
In_Stat also says that it's unlikely that business will be
the early adopters in this market.
In fact consumers are likely to be more receptive to early
adoption of the technology, says the researcher.
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