Mobile broadband is proving to be extremely popular among people all around the world, new figures suggest.

According to a study conducted by ABI Research, shipments of cellular and mobile PC modems grew by more than 55 per cent last year - up from 46.4 million in 2008 to 72 million-plus in 2009.

To be honest, this isn't too surprising at all.

These dinky little gadgets give people the chance to have an internet connection at all times - especially businesspeople who may need to put some hours in when they're travelling around the country.

And they're not too expensive either.

What's more, the New York-based firm - which was founded in 1990 and provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in technology and connectivity - found that Huawei is currently the market leader "by a significant margin", supplying 54.3 per cent of all USB modems and close to 50 per cent of all PC modems and routers.

Commenting on the results of the study, senior analyst at ABI Research Jeff Orr said: "The USB modem continues to flourish."

He added: "They remain amazingly popular. 2009 was actually a good year considering we were in a recession. There was somewhat surprising year-over-year growth in both shipments and revenue. And at the end of 2009 there was a surge of consumer adoption."

What do you think about these findings?

Do you own a USB modem?

And what are the advantages or disadvantages of being able to connect to mobile broadband?

Categories: Broadband Products, Wireless Broadband

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