Revenue from mobile broadband cards (standard PC cards and embedded cards) grew 6% in 1Q10 over 4Q09 to $1.55 billion worldwide, according to Infonetics Research Report. Strong growth is expected in mobile broadband card revenue and unit shipments in 2010, driven in large part by increasing adoption of HSPA.

Shipments of mobile routers jumped 59% in 1Q10 over 4Q09 as mobile operators see them as a means of offloading mobile data traffic onto WiFi and are actively promoting them. The number of mobile broadband subscribers surpassed DSL subscribers for the first time in 2009, and is forecast by Infonetics Research to grow to 1.8 billion worldwide in 2014

LTE-based mobile broadband embedded PC card sales are forecast to top US$3.8 billion in 2014. 

“Embedded mobile devices now account for a third of the mobile broadband devices market; the trend for mobile broadband connectivity embedded within consumer devices will continue apace, moving beyond PC-based devices to multiple new form factors,” notes Richard Webb , Infonetics Research’s directing analyst for mobile devices.

Infonetics' quarterly 2G/3G and LTE Mobile Broadband Devices and Subscribers report provides worldwide and regional market size, vendor market share, analysis, and forecasts through 2014 for W-CDMA/HSPA, CDMA2000/EV-DO, TD-SCDMA, and Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband PC cards, embedded mobile broadband cards by device (PC, netbook, handheld mobile Internet device), and phone- and PC-based mobile broadband subscribers. The report also tracks mobile broadband routers and netbooks by operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux, other).