CES 2009 — January 8, 2009 — The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today announced that a large selection of innovative CDMA2000® smartphones and high-end multimedia devices is driving the 3G wireless market in the United States. More than a dozen of these 3G broadband-enabled devices (powered by EV-DO Rev. A) from 7 vendors are currently delivering new performance capabilities to consumers and helping wireless operators expand their wireless data revenue streams. 3G CDMA mobile broadband connectivity is enabling applications on smartphones and other high-end multimedia devices that are among today’s most popular mobile phones. To satisfy this growing demand for 3G devices, CDMA2000 core networks are continuing to be enhanced to support existing mobile broadband business models for years to come.
“Due to several smartphone promotions, consumer awareness and adoption of 3G services has risen dramatically over the past year,” said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. “CDMA operators have been offering 3G mobile broadband connectivity for several years and now device innovations are starting to take advantage of this performance, driving a 3G smartphone frenzy here in the U.S. and abroad. Large economies of scale, device selection and network maturity make CDMA2000 operators best-equipped to deliver 3G broadband services in a cost-effective manner, which ultimately bodes well for a cash-strapped consumer market.”
According to AvianResearch, in October 2008 seven of the top 10 most popular devices in the U.S. were CDMA2000-enabled smartphones and multimedia devices, including the RIM Blackberry Curve, LG Dare, Samsung Instinct, LG Voyager, RIM Blackberry Pearl, LG Env2 and HTC Diamond. While a recession could result in a dip in handset sales, the steady flow of new high-end CDMA2000 devices such as the BlackBerry Storm is showing that consumers are finding value in 3G services on attractive, easy to use devices. ABI Research recently confirmed this trend, stating that smartphones captured 14% of the 2008 market and are expected to comprise 31% of the market by 2013.
A growing selection of CDMA2000 WorldmodeTM devices enabled with EV-DO Rev. A, Bluetooth, WiFi, mobile television technologies, Mobile WiMAX and eventually LTE raises 3G CDMA’s value proposition even higher, bringing new market opportunities to operators as the wireless industry moves away from a “one technology fits all” mindset. In addition, faster 1 GHz processing is bringing about new device opportunities, such as low-cost PCs, netbooks, routers, open devices and higher-powered smartphones. The CDMA community is also working on several open development solutions using the Android platform.
CDMA2000 is the leading 3G technology in the world and supports all of the advanced services consumers expect in smartphones and other high-end 3G multimedia devices, such as mobile broadband connectivity, multimedia messaging, push-to-talk (PTT), email, music downloads, video streaming, FM radio, television broadcast, social networking and location-based services. The user experience for these services is compelling since EV-DO Rev. A enables average download speeds of 600-1400 kbps with bursts up to 3.1 Mbps and average upload speeds of500-800 kbps with bursts up to 1.8 Mbps.
