Global mobile infrastructure revenues fell 10 percent in third quarter, to $9 billion, compared with the year-ago quarter--largely due to a drop in 3G spending in China, according to the research firm Dell'Oro. During the period, Ericsson's share of the market remained relatively stable, while Huawei gained share on Nokia Siemens Networks.
China Unicom and China Telecom, which received 3G licenses in January, slackened their spending during the period, according to Dell'Oro. This led to a sharp decline in base station shipments for the world's top equipment vendors, as well as a rise in the average selling price of mobile equipment, since more equipment was sold in developed markets.
However, the global infrastructure market is likely to tick up, as China's three mobile carriers build out their 3G networks. Indeed, Dell'Oro said that China Unicom and China Telecom are expected to resume heavy spending in 2010, which will be a main contributor to growth in the WCDMA and CDMA markets.
Already, China Mobile announced it would invest $8.6 billion to build out its 3G network. And Alcatel-Lucent, for example, won two contracts from China Mobile and China Telecom totalling $1.7 billion to provide network upgrades, infrastructure and services.
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