Chetan Sharma Consulting has released its ‘US Mobile Data Market Update Q1 2010’. The report praises the impact that the iPad has already had in the short time since its launch. It also reveals that the US wireless data market grew 5 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 22 per cent year-on-year, to exceed $12.5bn (£8.6bn) in mobile data service revenues in Q1 2010, which the company says is on track with its initial estimate of $54bn for the year.

During the quarter, Verizon Wireless edged past NTT DoCoMo, the decade-old leader in mobile data revenues, to become the biggest mobile data operator by data revenues, helped by its 93m subscriber base and high ARPU. The other three top US operators also occupy leading positions among the top 10 global mobile data operators. The US subscription penetration was approximately 94 per cent at the end of Q1 2010, or over 100 per cent if the demographics of 5 years and younger are removed.

The report notes that data traffic continued to increase across all networks. “The US has become ground zero for mobile broadband consumption and data traffic management evolution,” it states. “While it lags Japan and Korea in 3G penetration by a distance, due to higher penetration of smartphones and datacards, the consumption is much higher than its Asian counterparts. Given that it is also becoming the largest deployment base for HSPA+, LTE and WiMAX, most of the cutting edge research in terms of data management and experimentation with policy, regulations, strategy, and business models is taking place in the networks of the US operator, and keenly watched by players across the global ecosystem.

The report adds that the inevitable changes in broadband pricing starting are starting to be seen, and says that over the course of this year, newer pricing models that tie usage to pricing and add multiple devices to a single data bucket are likely to emerge.

One of these devices could, of course, be the iPad, which the report describes as “a winner”, saying that it has created a new user experience category of casual and couch computing that will foster growth in the connected device space.

The report also identifies a significant shift taking place in terms of app revenues, noting that in 2010, there will be more revenues generated globally from off-deck than on-deck for the first time, and that while the on-deck revenues are in billions, the decline trend looks irreversible.

Other key findings from the report include:

• Verizon and AT&T accounted for 60 per cent of the increase in data revenues in Q4 2009.
• The two networks now account for 69 per cent of the US market data services revenues and 62 per cent of the subscription base.
• Overall ARPU decreased by $0.17. Average voice ARPU declined by $0.84, while average data ARPU grew by $0.67 or 4.6 per cent, quarter-on-quarter.
• The average industry percentage contribution of data to overall ARPU crossed the 30 per cent mark in Q1 2010 and is likely to get past 35 per cent by the end of the year.
• Verizon led in (blended) data ARPU with $17.06, followed by AT&T and Sprint. In terms of  percentage contribution, all the top three operators exceeded the 30 per cent mark. T-Mobile ended the quarter with 23.7 per cent of its revenue coming from data services.
• Nokia sold 108m handsets globally in Q1 2010, including 21.5m smartphones. Samsung sold over 64m devices, increasing its market share to 22 per cent, with LG (9 per cent) and Sony Ericsson (3.6 per cent) completing the top four. Android, Apple, and RIM also made gains, while, for the first time, Motorola did not figure in the top five device makers.