Pages

85

Deliverables

Released

4Q 2010

Product Code

RR-SIM-10

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The SIM card market has grown rapidly, in-line with the high-level adoption of mobile communication. Recently the market has continued to grow despite the general economic downturn that has affected much of the world and many business sectors globally. This is, in part, due to the central role that mobile communication has in many people’s everyday lives, but also due to some emerging drivers within the market. These are:
• Changing MNO (mobile network operator) business models
• Increased competition from partners and third parties
• Wider implementation of mobile connectivity
• Greater demand for new applications requiring ID and authentication

The emergence of alternative service providers, other than the MNOs themselves, has seen increased focus on ways the MNOs can combat increased competition from OEMs and third-party service providers. Manufacturers, software developers and other related companies within the SIM community are looking at this as a way of promoting and developing the SIM and increasing the value that it can provide. However, there remain a number of technology- and product-specific issues, such as standards, handset support, product evolution, and security amongst others, which have prevented the SIM card from being fully developed to its potential.

This study addresses each of the barriers and drivers in turn and describes ABI Research's view of the most likely future market changes and developments.

What Questions Does This Report Answer?

• How are MNO business models adapting to increased competition?
• What can the SIM community do to enable MNOs to combat third-party app stores?
• How can SIM cards enable new VAS and open new opportunities for MNOs and their partners?
• What is the impact of services moving to the cloud?
• In this respect, how can the SIM act as a secure ID and help protect personal data?
• When and how will handset support issues be overcome?
• What issues face CDMA MNOs now adopting SIMs for the first time?
• What are the regional trends in terms of product type?
• Which services will drive increased memory capacity and value of SIM cards and SIM ICs?
• How long will the market for native cards remain?
• What is the likely timeline for new features, such as SCWS, USB-IC, NFC, etc?

Who Needs This Report?

• Smart/SIM card vendors
• Secure IC/SIM vendors
• Personalization companies
• MNOs
• Mobile security companies
• Mobile payment companies
• Handset OEMs
• Mobile software companies