Mobility

• [New] In 2021, APP fraud is expected to ramp up in the UK, with a wide range of attacks targeting vulnerable consumers - from mobile and mobile app attacks to sophisticated social engineering attacks.
• [New] Devices will become cheaper and networks will continue to expand; 60% of the global population should be reached by 2026, making 5G the fastest-deployed mobile network ever.
• [New] 5G services are expected to launch worldwide in 2021 with more than 50 operators offering services in about 30 countries by the end of 2021, making it a new technology trend you must watch out for.
• [New] Purchases made through mobile devices reached $434.1 billion in 2019, and could hit $729 billion by 2023.
• [New] Oil-rich Norway is making fast progress in electric mobility thanks to heavy subsidies and is aiming for all new cars to be zero emission by 2025.
• [New] Even if the COVID-19 crisis comes to an end in 2021, mobile app growth and revenue will remain strong, as scores of people across the globe who started using mobile apps more in 2020 will continue using them in 2021.
• [New] Biden will likely continue Trump's push to have Chinese vendors excluded from next-generation 5G mobile networks around the world.
• [New] 113 mobile operators have collectively launched 5G networks in 48 different countries, and 5G is now expected to account for 20% of all mobile connections by 2025.
• [New] In a world gone mad for mobile, arguably one of the most significant digital marketing trends of 2021 is the dawn of 5G technology, or fifth generation of mobile technology.
• [New] Telecommunications firm AST & Science, in partnership with Vodafone, plans to launch the first phase of a space-based commercial mobile communications service in 2023, a move which will boost phone coverage in Africa.
• [New] Thailand is currently looking at a transformation in mobility that has the potential to deliver significant benefits across society proven by the fact that 70% of Thailand's $75 billion infrastructure development plan for 2015-2022 is devoted to transport.
• [New] While most global mobility came to a swift halt in 2020, there have been important legal developments in 2020 which will have an important impact when work travel returns at scale.
• Mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to grow by almost 6.5 times the current figures, with total traffic increasing from 0.87 EB monthly in 2020 to 5.6 EB by 2026.
• One ADS share is worth 10 Hong Kong shares, China Telecom will offer one ADS for 1000 Hong Kong Shares, and China Mobile declared one ADS is worth five Hong Kong shares.
• Shaw Communications Inc., which owns wireless carrier Freedom Mobile and recently launched its Shaw Mobile service in Alberta and British Columbia, plans to start offering 5G service in early 2021.
• AST SpaceMobile is working with Vodafone Group to launch the first phase of its mobile communications service in 2023.
• We project enterprise AR spending to reach $5.1 billion in 2021, which includes AR productivity software for mobile devices as well as AR glasses hardware and software.
• Mobile operators in Australia have been accelerating 5G deployments in 2020 and are waiting for additional spectrum that local regulator ACMA plans to award in 2021 to further expand 5G networks.
• The number of mobile devices operating worldwide is expected to reach 17.72 billion by 2024, an increase of 3.7 billion devices compared to 2020 levels.
• In the coming five years, India is going to start producing one billion mobile phones, 50 mn television sets and 50 mn IT hardware devices like laptops and tablets.
• Ofcom gains the power to block non-compliant services or apps from being viewed in the UK, which we assume will be imposed through mobile operators, app provider and fixed broadband ISPs etc.
• Mobile phone spending in Japan will decline in 2021 due to local average selling prices going up as a result of the U.S. dollar increasing.

Last updated: 17 January 2021