ABI Research: Spending on macro base stations to fall again in 2016

ABI Research forecast that spending on macro cell base stations will decline in 2016 for the second year in a row, reaching $48 billion (€42 billion). Worldwide base station spending is expected to decline by 2 per cent in 2016 and then by double digits each year thereafter. The decline is caused by the shift in operator capex to less capital-intensive solutions, including small cells, DAS and Wi-Fi for network densification. In 2015, Ericsson led the overall base station market, followed by Huawei, Nokia Networks, Alcatel-Lucent and ZTE. Report