Mobile penetration (based on the number of active and marketed SIM cards) and annual market growth between 31 December 2006 and 31 December 2015

On the mobile telephony market, there was no major changes in operators’ penetration in 2015. The crisis in 2008 put an end to the previous annual growth rate on 5-10% with a considerable one-time drop in 2009 followed by stagnation.

This means that mobile telephony market saw no real growth in the last six years. Besides the impact of the crisis, this was also caused by the market getting close to the point of saturation so there are limits to penetration growth on the demand side as well. The spread between the number of active SIM cards and those marketed has been declining since the onset of the crisis, suggesting a fall in pre-paid purchases with discounted device purchase options. In 2015, there was a slight growth of less than 1% for both active and marketed SIM cards.

Mobile penetration (based on the number of active and marketed SIM cards) and annual market growth between 31 December 2006 and 31 December 2015
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