4G LTE No Longer a Premium in 2012

If you haven’t joined the 4G LTE revolution that’s being championed presently in the U.S. by Verizon Wireless and soon to be joined by AT&T, 2012 may be the year when LTE takes off with devices no longer commanding a premium. Right now, with the technology for faster mobile broadband being nascent, smartphones are commanding a slight premium when compared with similar 3G technologies, with some 4G LTE phones launching in the $300 range compared to $200 for flagship 3G devices.

According to a report on DigiTimes, new LTE chipsets and more manufacturers making 4G LTE chipsets will drive down the price of the component, making the final cost of the handset cheaper.

Prices of LTE terminal devices are expected to slide drastically in second-half 2012 as a number of chipset vendors will begin volume production of single-mode LTE chips in second-half 2011, and Qualcomm is expected to launch its next-generation multi-mode LTE solutions in first-half 2012, according to makers of networking/communication devices.

Prices of network cards (USB modems) could drop by as much as 50% in the second half of 2012 by the same DigiTimes report.