Global LTE users are expected to reach 445 million in 2014 and 1.466 billion in 2016, according to Digitimes Research.

In the second half of 2014, 4G developments in China have taken off, spurring LTE developments in the end-user segment in addition to the business segment. Growth in the two segments will continue to be steady over the next 2-3 years.

In the first half of 2014 South Korea LTE users made up 58.8% of all LTE mobile users in the market but as developments in China progressed, with telecom providers such as China Mobile providing more incentives for users, coupled with increased developments from Verizon Wireless, NTT docomo etc., global usage is on the rise and forecast to surpass one billion users by the end of 2016.

Digitimes Research also said LTE equipment suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE are boosting efforts to expand in markets abroad, which have arguably been two of the biggest developments in 2014 that will further take shape in the future.