Growing Affluence, Smartphone Adoption and Social Apps Pushing Latin America Ahead of Other Regions for Mobile Revenue Growth

Latin America outperformed other regions in mobile revenue growth for the period 1Q 2010 to 1Q 2011, according to a new ABI Research study. In terms of total aggregate service revenue Latin America grew at 17%, while in comparison North America achieved just 8.9% growth.

The great increment in the mobile revenues is largely attributable to increased subscriptions and ARPU. Latin America witnessed an 11.9% increase in mobile subscribers while attaining a 5.9% increase in ARPU, holding second position behind Eastern Europe for the same period. Most regions' ARPU declined while North America and Western Europe only had meager gains.

“Contrary to popular belief, Latin America is the rising star of the telecommunications market” says research associate Lim Shiyang. “With increasing affluence in South America, subscribers are becoming willing to pay more for better value added services.”

Meanwhile, revenues from data services have become the new engines of growth for telecommunications operators. While the global average growth rate for data service revenues during the period 1Q 2010 to 1Q 2011 increased by 20.3%, Latin America took the lead with a 40.3% increase. The increased data consumption is driven by increased smartphone adoption as can be seen from the 153% increase in smartphone shipments in 2010.

”The high growth rates attained through the widespread adoption of ‘mobility’ into the lifestyles of consumers in Latin America show that people are hungry for these types of mobile services and are willing to spend.” says mobile services practice director Neil Strother.

ABI Research has just released a quarterly review of global and regional wireless usage metrics, which can be found in “Mobile Subscriber Usage and Traffic Market Data” and “Mobile Carrier and Revenue Market Data.”

These Market Data products forecast global, regional and country-level analysis into end-user level benchmarks, quantifying the purchasing and usage habits of mobile cellular customers. They track average revenue per user (ARPU), usage, and traffic for carriers in more than 27 markets on a quarterly basis.

They are part of the Mobile Services Research Service, which also includes Research Reports, other Market Data products, ABI Insights, and analyst inquiry support.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 40+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.​