1.
ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT APPENDIX
NORTH
EAST ASIA
2015JUNE

2.
2 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT NORTH EAST ASIA JUNE 2015
A need for internet access anytime, anywhere
Having access to relevant information at any time and
in any location has become an integral part of life for
people in North East Asia. Mobile phones, especially
smartphones, provide people with the ability to remain
connected anytime, anywhere, and also enable them
to perform different internet tasks at different locations.
Network performance is a major factor in influencing users’
overall connectivity experience. The pursuit of better
connectivity makes users switch between different access
technologies. 47 percent of mobile phone users in urban
China who switch access technology when performing
an online activity do so for better speed or reliability.
The need for quality internet connectivity will contribute
to the growth of mobile broadband: 42 percent of
3G users in urban China want to upgrade to 4G in
the next 3 months, and 36 percent of 4G users in
Japan want to improve their 4G connections.1
Market overview
1
Ericsson ConsumerLab, Analytical platform (2014)
The North East Asia region consists of the following
markets: Mainland China, Japan, South Korea,
Taiwan and Hong Kong. With a population of
around 1.6 billion, the region represents 22 percent
of the world’s population. In economic terms,
Mainland China and Japan are currently the second
and third largest consumer markets in the world after
the US. For mobile subscriptions, Mainland China, Japan
and South Korea are currently in the top four global
LTE markets.
Thanks to Mainland China’s extensive and rapid
deployment of LTE, the number of LTE subscriptions in
the country should exceed 1.1 billion by the end of 2020.
It will then represent around 30 percent of the total
global subscriptions for LTE.
Japan reached 71 million LTE subscriptions at the
end of 2014, approximately 45 percent of all mobile
subscriptions. Mobile competition in Japan is fierce.
Two operators offer a theoretical top speed of 225 Mbps,
utilizing Carrier Aggregation, while another offers a
220 Mbps service through WiMAX2+, which is TD-LTE
compatible. Japan is one of a few countries that has
built large-scale LTE-Advanced networks.
South Korea’s mobile connection speed is evolving.
Tri-band Carrier Aggregation of LTE-Advanced was
launched in 2014. This is the fastest mobile network service
available globally – four times faster than standard LTE.
Taiwan has a long-term commitment to deploy new
technologies. Last December, the Taiwanese government
announced a 4G mobile broadband smart city plan
to promote LTE adoption. One objective of this 3 year
project is to increase GDP by USD 2.3 billion, and
the expansion of the LTE services is seen as a key
contributor in achieving this.
Key figures: North East Asia
2014 2020 CAGR 2014–2020
Mobile subscriptions (million) 1,550 2,000 4%
Smartphone subscriptions (million) 1,035 1,700 9%
Data traffic per active smartphone (GB/month) 0.6 4.0 35%
Total mobile traffic (PB/month) 850 8,000 45%
47%
of mobile phone
users in urban
China who switch
access technology
do so for speed
or reliability
42%
of 3G users in
urban China
want to upgrade
to 4G

3.
NORTH EAST ASIA JUNE 2015 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 3
The multiscreen lifestyle and beyond
Consumers today switch screens in order to access
services and content across different locations.
24 percent of people in South Korea own and use
PCs, tablets and mobile phones. Of those, 80 percent
have switched screens at least once in the last 30 days
while online.2
New services enabling seamless access to video content
have given rise to a new behavior called ‘place shifting’,
where people start watching a video on one device and
then continue watching it on another device in a new place.
35 percent of internet users in South Korea say they
place-shift at least once a week.3
People have built up an appetite for cloud services
due to using multiple devices for daily content
needs. For example, in urban China, 47 percent of
consumers synchronize their contact lists across
devices for personal use and 57 percent of internet
users want to have the seamless cross-device video
viewing experience offered by the cloud service.4
As we enter the Networked Society, people increasingly
expect to interact with more devices and connected
things in their surroundings. 60 percent of global
smartphone users believe that sensors will be widely
used by the end of 2016. Around 30 percent of
smartphone users in Japan are interested in having
smart homes connected to the internet, confirming
the idea that people believe an Internet of Things
is developing.4
3 types of device
2 types of device
1 type of device
No device
25% 24%
27%
22%
3%6%5%
70% 70%
48%
Japan South Korea Urban China
2
Ericsson ConsumerLab, Analytical platform (2014)
3
Ericsson ConsumerLab, TV and media study (2014)
4
Ericsson ConsumerLab, Analytical platform (2014)
Users in North East Asia use different internet services across different locations throughout the day
Share of North East Asians who own and use PCs,
tablets and mobile phones
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab, Analytical platform, 2014
Base: All surveyed consumers, aged between 15 and 69 years
Source: Ericsson ConsumerLab, Analytical platform (2014)
Base: All surveyed consumers, aged between 15 and 69 years
> Send messages
> Watch TV/videos
Communicate
Browse the internet
Work/study related
online activities
Send emails, IMs
Browse the internet
Visit social
networking sites
Online shopping
Instant messaging
Voice/video calls
Entertainment and
information searches
Watch TV/video
Browse the internet
Online shopping
Communicate
Play games
Listen to music
Work/study-related
online activities
Send messages
Listen to music
Voice calls
Check news updates,
online browsing
IN THE MORNING COMMUTING AT WORK OUT AND ABOUT IN THE EVENING

4.
4 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT NORTH EAST ASIA JUNE 2015
1,400
million
2
billion mobile
subscriptions
in 2020
Mobile subscriptions
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
2,500
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
0
Mobile subscriptions, North East Asia (million)
LTE subscriptions, North East Asia (million)
Mainland China
Japan
South Korea
Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
1,600
0
2014 202020192010 2011 2012 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018
The number of mobile subscriptions is growing rapidly
in North East Asia. The total mobile subscriptions in
the region reached almost 1.6 billion at the end of 2014,
which is 20 percent of the global market. It will grow at
a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4 percent
to 2 billion subscriptions in 2020.
LTE subscriptions are exploding
LTE subscriptions are expected to reach 420 million
at the end of 2015. Three countries in North East
Asia – Mainland China, Japan and South Korea – are
among the top four countries worldwide using LTE.
Migration from 3G to 4G has accelerated in Japan and
South Korea. In February 2015, the Chinese government
awarded Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) type licenses
to two Chinese operators to boost 4G business. Taiwan
launched LTE in the second half of 2014, and is heavily
promoting new 4G services. There will be a rapid shift
to 4G in North East Asia, reaching around 1.4 billion
LTE subscriptions by the end of 2020.
Smartphone subscriptions are expected to increase
at 9 percent CAGR to 1.7 billion in 2020. As a result,
around 90 percent of mobile phone subscriptions will
be smartphone subscriptions in 2020.
Other
LTE subscriptions
Note: 5G service is likely to start around 2020 in South Korea and Japan.
5G users in 2020 have been included in the graph

5.
NORTH EAST ASIA JUNE 2015 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 5
Total data traffic in North East Asia was around
0.8 Exabytes per month in 2014, which corresponds to
600 Megabytes per active smartphone user, per month.
Traffic will grow almost 10 times to a total of 8 Exabytes
per month in 2020, or 4 Gigabytes per active smartphone
user, per month.
Increasing data traffic
Mainland China currently has the lowest data
consumption in North East Asia, due to a high
number of 2G subscriptions. However, the data traffic
in Mainland China is increasing with the introduction
of LTE. Currently, Chinese consumers are rapidly
changing to 4G, with over 70 percent of devices sold
being 4G capable.5
Data traffic in the region will grow
48 percent per year on average between 2014 and 2020,
while voice traffic growth will be 4 percent. Data traffic
in Mainland China shows high growth of 65 percent per
year in the same period. In 2020, 99 percent of mobile
traffic will be data traffic in the region.
High smartphone and LTE penetration
rates drive data
The increase of data traffic is accelerated by high
smartphone and LTE penetration rates. Countries already
advanced in these technologies, such as Japan and
South Korea, will continue to have rising data traffic
due to the growth of mobile video.
mobile traffic
1
3
4
7
8
6
5
0
2
Mobile traffic, North East Asia (monthly ExaBytes)
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
DataVoice
10x
growth
in mobile data
traffic between
2014 and
2020
Data traffic in the
region will grow
48% YoY between
2014 and 2020
5
Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China, February (2015)

6.
6 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT NORTH EAST ASIA JUNE 2015
Growing demand on video streaming
services and operator 4K readiness
The growing demand for video streaming is illustrated by
the high traffic usage per smart device in North East Asian
networks. Therefore, video streaming service quality is
important to achieve high customer satisfaction.
With the growing usage of video streaming services,
the demand for a great visual experience has driven
innovation in video compression, display technology and
application processors in smart devices. These devices
are increasingly able to capture 4K Ultra High Definition
(UHD) video, and soon users will expect to be able to
send and receive 4K content over their mobile networks.
To support the smooth viewing of streaming 4K video
content, a high speed network is needed. With the use
of the H.265 high efficiency video codec, the downlink
speed requirement is around 20 Mbps.
North East Asian networks were analyzed to determine
the probability of experiencing a downlink throughput
equal to, or greater than, 20 Mbps. As the graph on the
left shows, user experience varies between countries.
In Mainland China, for example, there was a 44 percent
probability of experiencing this speed within the duration
of the analysis, while in Japan it was only 15 percent. The
range is mainly due to the timing of LTE roll-out. Operators’
ongoing efforts in evolving their mobile broadband
networks, through technologies like LTE-Advanced,
Carrier Aggregation, and performance optimization,
will continue to contribute to a superior user experience.
NETWORK PERFORMANCE
Measurements from Speedtest.net have been analyzed
and the trends on downlink throughput (based on all
technologies data) are illustrated in the graphics below.
Mainland China’s median speed (50 percent probability of
getting a certain speed or higher) is the best in the region
at 16 Mbps, due to the newly launched 4G networks. These
were dimensioned with capacity for 4G subscription growth.
When analyzing Speedtest data, we define the 10th
percentile (90 percent probability of getting a certain speed
or higher) as cell-edge performance. Within the region,
operators in Taiwan had the best cell-edge performance
at 2 Mbps, according to Speedtest measurements.
They have also recently launched 4G networks.
Probability of user downlink speed 20 Mbps
Source: Ericsson analysis of data from Ooklas NetMetrics from Speedtest.net Q4 2014
Mainland
China
South KoreaJapan Taiwan Hong Kong U.S.
44%
15%
29%
39%
24%
23%
Source: Ericsson analysis of data from Ookla’s NetMetrics from Speedtest.net, 2015 Source: Ericsson analysis of data from Ookla’s NetMetrics from Speedtest.net, 2015
Median (50% probability)
downlink throughput
Cell-edge (90% probability)
downlink throughput
Mainland China
Global, top 50 countries
South Korea
Japan
Hong Kong
Taiwan
1.5
1
0.5
00
5
10
15
UserDLthroughput(Mbps)
UserDLthroughput(Mbps)
20
2
2.5
Q1
2012
Q1
2012
Q2 Q2Q3 Q3Q4 Q4Q1
2013
Q1
2013
Q2 Q2Q3 Q3Q3 Q3Q4 Q4Q4 Q4Q1
2014
Q1
2014
Q2 Q2

7.
NORTH EAST ASIA JUNE 2015 ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 7
85%
85%
95%
95%
75%
95%
GSM/EDGE
WCDMA/HSPA
LTE
95%
of the population
will be covered
by LTE in 2020
POPULATION COVERAGE
Mobile network population coverage in the region is
constantly increasing. However, GSM/EDGE has only
increased slightly, as Japan and South Korea have no
GSM/EDGE. WCDMA/HSPA coverage is very high – over
95 percent of the total population in the region. Since
LTE was launched, operators have started to focus on
LTE population coverage, especially in Mainland China.
Chinese operators established a Tower Company – an
infrastructure service organization for location and tower
sharing. This accelerates LTE network deployment. By
2020, the LTE population coverage is forecast to be the
same as WCDMA/HSPA.
South Korea and Japan expand
LTE-Advanced to offer faster speeds
In parallel to building out LTE population coverage,
operators in South Korea and Japan are also
expanding their LTE-Advanced services, including
Carrier Aggregation for faster speeds. The focus is
shifting from population coverage to app coverage,
as the number of smartphone users increase and the
usage of different apps grows. App coverage describes
the area in which a consumer has a high probability of
experiencing sufficient network performance to run any
given app. To achieve satisfying app coverage, it is vital
to improve indoor network performance.
Population coverage, North East Asia
2014
2020
2014
2020
2014
2020

8.
EAB-15:026347
© Ericsson AB 2015
Ericsson
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Telephone +46 10 719 00 00
www.ericsson.com
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