Market share matters so much in the communications business for one simple fact: consumer spending does not change much from year to year, either in absolute terms, or as a percentage of household revenue.
U.S. consumer spending on mobile phone, broadband and other communication services is not a very-good predictor of where the economy is, most of the time.
The reason is that spending on such services is so stable, averaging between 2.2 percent and 2.5 percent of household spending.
Though consumers might shift a bit at the margins duirng tougher times, they do not necessarily spend much more during buoyant times.U.S. household spending on communications
A new study by Ofcom, the U.K. regulator, for example, shows that over the 2005 to 2010 period, per capita spending has been consistent.
Some studies of the U.S. market over shorter time frames show a slightly higher rate of growth. Consumer communications spending
Indeed, given strong growth in mobility services and broadband, it stands to reason that a slight upward bias in consumer spending should be happening.
