5 billion mobile phones predicted worldwide by 2012

Annual revenues from the global mobile market will top $1.03 trillion by 2013, when the number of subscriptions worldwide will have risen to more than 5.3 billion, predicts a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media’s Global Mobile Forecasts.

It took over 20 years to reach 3 billion subscriptions, said the report, but another 1.9 billion net additions are forecast in just six years, with the global total nudging past the 5 billion milestone in 2011. Total annual revenues derived from mobile operators will grow by over one-third, jumping from $769 billion in 2007 to $1.03 trillion six years later.

Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts 78 percent of global net additions between 2007 and 2013 to come from markets in Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America. Forty-seven percent of the 1.9 billion global net additions will come from five markets — India, China, Indonesia, Brazil and Russia.

The mature markets of North America and Western Europe will contribute 8 percent of total global net additions, reflecting the high level of saturation in these markets. Globally, subscription penetration will approach the 75 percent mark in 2013, while some countries will push past the 150 percent barrier.