Global mobile revenues will be $1.1 Trillion in 2012. Here is why

You know what is cooler than a billion? A trillion! And that is exactly where the mobile industry is going, according to a new GSM/Wireless Intelligence study, The Global Cellular Industry Balance Sheet.

The study estimates that global mobile service provider revenues will be $ 1.1 trillion in 2012, thanks to a massive boom in four major economies – Brazil, Russia, India, and China – collectively known as the BRIC economies. The BRIC operators had revenues of $ 170 billion in 2010 and will exceed $ 200 billion in revenues in 2012. Developing markets will be the primary engine of growth, contributing over 40 percent of global revenues by this point. In comparison, developed economies are stagnating.

Total revenue growth in developed economies has stalled at around 2 percent since 2009.
40 percent of operators in the developed economies saw revenue declines last year.
The demand for smartphones has led to higher handset subsidies and that is the causing some issues for the carriers who saw profit margins in the developed world, which declined by 1.4 percent in 2009 and 0.3 percent in 2010 to stand at 35 percent of total revenues
The worst hit operators are located in Western Europe (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain), Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary) and the more mature markets in the Middle East (Bahrain, UAE), as well as a number of second-tier operators in the U.S.

Some other notable facts

Voice revenues still account for 75 percent of recurring revenues on average in developing countries and 70 percent in developed countries.
Data-only revenues (which exclude revenues from messaging services) represented 16% of total revenues on average in the developed region in 2010, compared to 11 percent in the developing region.
In 2012, over one-third of total revenues globally will come from non-voice services.
Data-only services will represent close to 20 percent of total revenues.