Cellular PC Modems Vendor Matrix

ABI Research has prepared this Vendor Matrix to give an unbiased rating of all the current vendor offerings based on product implementation and innovation. Several criteria are evaluated in determining the rating of a particular vendor’s cellular modem offerings.

For this particular matrix, under "implementation," ABI Research examined the vendor's capabilities across the categories of certification and integration support, breadth of product line, complimentary product offerings, Tier III customer support, market share, financial and organizational health, and product cost.

Under "innovation," ABI Research scrutinized the following criteria for PCMCIA Cards and USB modems: design, plug and play, performance, durability, feature functionality, GSM network coverage, and CDMA network coverage.

In 2Q08, ABI Research found Huawei gaining top honors, followed closely by Sierra Wireless and Novatel Wireless. Huawei had the best implementation score of all companies, carried by high ratings in market share and cost. Sierra Wireless and Novatel Wireless had the highest scores for innovation. For implementation, both Novatel Wireless and Sierra Wireless are highly rated. As longstanding players in this market they both score well with breadth of product line and integration and certification support.

Option stumbled in 2007 as a result of scoring lower than its competitors in some key areas, finishing at number 4 in the overall vendor ranking scores. ZTE stands in a solitary position on the vendor ranking chart. It has characteristics similar to Huawei when ranked on complementary product offerings and financial health but its market share position and breadth of product offering lower its implementation scores. Both C-Motech and Sony Ericsson occupy the similar positions in the vendor rankings as they have scored lower overall across implementation and innovation, but for different reasons.

Top 10 Listing:


Rankings



After individual scores are established for Innovation and Implementation using the above criteria, an overall company score is established using the Root Mean Square (RMS) method:




The resulting overall scores are then ranked and used for percentile comparisons.

The RMS method, in comparison with a straight summation or average of individual innovation and implementation values, rewards companies for standout performance.

For example, using this method a company with an innovation score of 9 and an implementation score of 1 would score considerably higher than a company with a score of 5 in both areas, despite the mean score being the same. ABI Research believes this is appropriate as the goal of these matrices is to highlight those companies that stand out from the others.