North America is a highly connected region with ubiquitous internet access and adoption of mobile devices.
(1) By 2020, mobile subscriptions in the US and Canada will reach 480 million, with nearly 450 million being smartphones, tablets, and other connected devices. (2) Data usage is also growing rapidly, increasing at 40% annually to reach 6 exabytes per month by 2020. (3) This growth is driven by increased device ownership per household and higher data consumption on each device, especially smartphones which will use over 14 GB per month on average by 2020.
2. 2 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT NORTH AMERICA JUNE 2015
Number of internet connected devices per household in the U.S. in 2014
1
Among U.S. respondents, ages 15–69, surveyed during Ericsson’s ConsumerLab 2014 InfoCom consumer research
10 3 5 7 92 4 6 8 10 >10
99%100%
91% 90%
68%
47%
33%
24%
17%
13%
10%
6%
MARKET OVERVIEW
Connectivity anytime, anywhere
is the expected norm
Internet connectivity has reached its 25th year. Mobile
devices are now affordable and in ample supply, while
mobile networks are keeping pace with the latest
networking technologies.
Consumers in the U.S. and Canada, alongside other
developed markets, have passed the introductory phase
of the Networked Society. The pervasive connectivity of
people and devices is transforming our lives, including
our homes, jobs, health, relationships and more.
In 1990, the internet had existed as a public resource
for less than a decade, and almost 80 percent of
the world’s internet users resided in the U.S. or
Canada. Now, 99 percent of households in the U.S.
have at least 1 device connected to the internet
and nearly 50 percent have 5 devices or more.1
2014 population (million)
2014 households (million)
Land mass (millions of square miles)
U.S. CANADA TOTAL
319
123
3.7
36
13
3.9
355
136
7.6
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab (2014)
Key figures: North America
2014 2020 CAGR 2014–2020
Mobile subscriptions (million) 380 480 4%
Smartphone subscriptions (million) 250 370 5%
Data traffic per active smartphone (GB/month) 2.4 14 35%
Total mobile traffic (EB/month) 0.8 6 40%
90%
of households
have at least
3 internet
connected
devices
3. NORTH AMERICA JUNE 2015 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 3
Smartphone
Consumers in the U.S. and Canada quickly
adopted smartphones, tablets and laptops as
essential devices. In these markets in 2014, there
were 2 smartphones for every household. The majority
of consumers in the U.S. (90 percent) say they need a
mobile phone, and 64 percent say they use the internet
everywhere – indoors, outdoors and in vehicles.1
Connected device adoption in the U.S. (per household)
1995 20052000 20142010
0
20
40
60
80
100
Desktop
Laptop Tablet
Fixed phone Mobile phone of any kind
1
Among U.S. respondents, ages 15–69, surveyed during Ericsson’s ConsumerLab 2014 InfoCom consumer research
97% of U.S.
households
have a mobile
phone
64%
in North America use
the internet everywhere
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab (1995–2014)
Base: Population aged 15–69 years old, U.S.
4. 4 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT NORTH AMERICA JUNE 2015
75%
of handsets are smartphones
GSM/EDGE-only
Mobile subscriptions, U.S. and Canada (million)
0
100
200
500
300
400
MOBILE SUBSCRIPTIONS
Smartphones Basic phoneMobile PCs, tablets and mobile routers
2018 2019 20202014 20172013 20162012 201520112010
Mobile subscriptions, U.S. and Canada (million)
LTE/WCDMA/GSM WCDMA/GSM
0
200
100
300
400
500
2010 201620142012 2018 2020
In 2014, the U.S. and Canada were home to almost
380 million mobile subscriptions, of which nearly
300 million were for smartphones, mobile PCs, tablets
and mobile routers. Most of the growth from 2013 to 2014
came from an increase in subscriptions for these devices
– a trend which is predicted to continue. By 2020, total
mobile subscriptions will approach 480 million, of which
smartphone, mobile PC, tablet and router subscriptions
will comprise nearly 450 million. This translates to a
population penetration rate of almost 125 percent of
the nearly 370 million predicted inhabitants in
North America in 2020.
LTE subscriptions will dominate
in the coming years
Over 25 percent of all mobile subscriptions in 2013 were
LTE, a figure that jumped to around 40 percent in 2014.
Over the next five years, mobile service providers will
continue to transition customers to 4G networks
to deliver new services like VoLTE and enable
LTE Advanced features. By 2020, approximately
90 percent of subscriptions will be LTE.
Much of this subscription growth will come from an
increased number of connected devices per user, rather
than the addition of individual new users. In 2014, the
average number of connected devices per household in
the U.S. was 5.2, and consumer intention to acquire more
devices indicates that growth will continue.
In addition, 5G will begin to be deployed during the
forecast period, with 5G subscriptions becoming
commercially available in 2020. 5G usage will be
driven to a large extent by new use cases, especially
machine-type communications.
CDMA-only
Other
430
-45
-60
155
Total
additions
One
smartphone
subscription
per person
in 2020
-165
-5
5. NORTH AMERICA JUNE 2015 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 5
App coverage – a new way of looking
at network performance
The relative importance of network performance to
user satisfaction is higher in the U.S. than the global
average, driving 24 percent of overall mobile user
satisfaction compared to 19 percent globally.2
With the increased use of mobile applications, Ericsson
proposed a new approach to network performance
called app coverage. Essentially, every application has
its own coverage map, driven by a number of factors.
To illustrate, Ericsson analyzed network performance
measurements from Speedtest.net to calculate median
and cell edge downlink data throughput rates. A good
streaming video experience requires a throughput
rate of 5 to 10 Mbps. In the U.S. and Canada, a user
has a 50 percent probability of receiving 7 to 10 Mbps
downlink throughput. Measuring results only on
LTE networks, the median throughput is 1.4 times
faster in the U.S. and 2.3 times faster in Canada.
The benefit of LTE is even more dramatic at the
90 percent probability threshold (a proxy for cell-edge
performance), where throughput is 2 times faster in the
U.S. and 4 times faster in Canada, when compared to
throughput measurements across cellular technologies.
However, with greater demand on LTE networks,
LTE network cell edge performance continues to
decline in both markets. Densification, appropriate
network dimensioning and adequate spectrum
allocations are required to continue to ensure good
app coverage for all users in the entire cell, even
after LTE is deployed.
MOBILE TRAFFIC
By the end of 2020, mobile data traffic in the U.S. and
Canada will be close to 6 ExaBytes (EB) per month – or
7.5 times the traffic of 2014. 6 EB is equivalent to about
4.2 billion movie downloads.
Aggregate mobile voice traffic will increase slightly
over the next six years. Mobile data traffic is forecast
to increase at a CAGR of nearly 40 percent from 2014
to 2020. In 2020, mobile networks in the U.S. and
Canada will carry more mobile data than the
cumulative totals predicted for the 5-year period
from 2010 to 2016.
Total mobile traffic, U.S. and Canada (monthly ExaByte)
Median throughput measurements
20202014
2.4 GB
14 GB
0
1
2
3
4
0
Downlinkthroughput(Mbps)
6
5
25
20
15
10
1
20112010
Q4
2012
Q3
2013
Q2
2014
Q1
2013
Q4
2013
Q3
2014
Q2
2013
Q1
2014
Q4
2014
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Mobile data traffic per active smartphone,
North America (monthly)
2
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab, Network Performance study (2013)
Source: Analysis performed by Ericsson, based on
Ookla’s NetMetrics data from Speedtest.net, 2014
Smartphones accounted for three-fourths of the data
traffic in 2014, and as consumers adopt larger form
factor phones, smartphones will continue to be the
major source of mobile data traffic through 2020.
Data usage per smartphone will continue to increase,
growing over 5 times between 2014 and 2020.
LTE-only Canada
All cellular Canada
LTE-only U.S.
All cellular U.S.
40% CAGR
increase from
2014–2020
6. 6 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT NORTH AMERICA JUNE 2015
100
There is no “typical” mobile
user in the U.S. and Canada
The burgeoning number of activities performed
over mobile networks and devices has resulted in
increasingly personal mobile user profiles.
Some applications are frequently used by nearly all
mobile users, such as SMS and voice calling. Others,
such as mobile gaming and music streaming, are
used frequently by a smaller number of consumers.
Overall, consumers increasingly pick and mix the
applications that best meet their unique needs.
U.S. and Canadian consumers also have a rising number
of choices when it comes to mobile devices. Among
smartphone users, household penetration of tablets is
higher than 50 percent, and a number of less-traditional
connected devices are rising in popularity.
Whether consumers prefer their news to be delivered
through a smartphone, a tablet or a smart watch, any
combination of device, location and time of day is
possible. It’s ultimately the consumer’s choice, and
this ability to choose is the underlying reason why the
U.S. and Canada market segments are increasingly
composed of individuals creating their unique mobile
experience. As a result, each user becomes their
own distinct segment of the market. As mobile usage
diversifies to include dozens of tasks over dozens
of devices, the consumer mobile-experience needs
to change as well.
Traditional mobile-experience needs, such as productivity
and staying in touch, are joined by the consumer desire to
be entertained, to try new things and to have fun. When
asked why they downloaded an app to their smartphone,
U.S. respondents cited boredom as their motivation nearly
as often as they cited the need for a specific function.
SEGMENTS OF ONE
Occasionally Weekly 1–4 times per daySeveral times per week 5 or more times per day
Frequency of application use, U.S. smartphone users
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab, 2014
Base: Smartphone users, ages 15–69, U.S.
SMS Voice calls Emails Browse the
internet
Mobile
games
Instant
messaging
Stream
music
Internet
downloads
Navigation
services
Watch
video
clips
Watch
movies or
TV shows
Mobile
banking
Internet
calls
Mobile
payments
Social
networking
sites
0
40
80
20
60
Smartphone users’ reasons for app downloads, U.S.
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab (2013)
Base: Smartphone users, ages 15–69, U.S.
0
40
10
50
30
20
37% of
smartphone
users download
an app to try
something new
I needed an
app that
performed a
specific
function
I heard
about
it and
wanted to
try it out
I was bored
and wanted
to try
something
new
It helped
me get
things done
on the go
It helped
me keep in
touch more
easily
7. NORTH AMERICA JUNE 2015 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 7
2014
80
Mobility is critical for business
Consumer expectations of the businesses with which
they interact are affected by anywhere, anytime attitudes.
With nearly 90 percent of North American consumers
digitally interacting with brands, businesses are looking
for ways to improve customer engagement and support.3
Increasingly, this means providing more and better
mobile connectivity for their organizations.
The figure below shows the results of a survey of mobile
high tech business users in the U.S., regarding the kinds
of connectivity provided by their employers.4
The relative
importance of mobility has changed dramatically in just
two years. Around 75 percent of respondents indicated
that they have access to a mobile data plan and mobile
device from their employer, compared to less than
50 percent in 2012.
2012
U.S. employer provided connectivity
Improved outcomes through connectivity
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab, Business Users Go Mobile study (2014)
Base: Survey of 750 mobile high-tech business users in the U.S.; representative of 5 million users
In fact, 70 percent of the CIOs and CTOs interviewed in
the survey felt that mobility was critical to their business.
They saw this as a key enabler for quicker response
time to clients as well as employee productivity and
satisfaction. As consumers increasingly use their mobile
devices for researching and buying products, as well
as for post-sale activities including bill payment and
customer service, the channels of connectivity between
businesses and their customers will continue to grow
broader and deeper.
Fixed
internet
connection
3G/4G/LTE
data plan and
smartphone
3G/4G/LTE
data plan
and tablet
Wi-Fi
75% 74%
60%
78%
26%
47%
81%
47%
Unwiredw
orkforce Transform
a
tionthroughmobilit
y
Improved business
efficiency and
productivity
Improved customer
and partner
engagement
2 years ago
less than 50%
of employers
provided a mobile
data plan
and device
75% of
businesses
provide a mobile
data plan and
device
2014
2012
0
20
40
60
100
3
Source: TNS Connected Life study (2014)
4
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab, Business Users Go Mobile study (2014)