ABI Research says that despite the ability to use many mobile broadband connected phones as modems with a laptop, the sale of cellular broadband modems is expected to hit $22 billion by 2013. ABI says that for a business user a separate PC card or USB modem is more convenient than using a cellular phone for a modem.

ABI also says that something else to consider in the analysis of the market is the number of notebooks that are now shipping with cellular modems inside. Sprint recently dropped the price of using a cellular phone as a modem and other cellular companies could follow suit.

ABI Research principal analyst Dan Shey notes, "Customers want mobile broadband experiences like those provided by their PCs, meaning they want the fastest devices. Phones with at least 3G radios threaten cellular modem sales; however shipments of these modems will not exceed 30% of cellular handset shipments by 2011."

Via ABI Research