Global 5G smartphone sales will record 250 million units in 2020 from 18 million units in 2019 – driven by Apple iPhone, Huawei and Samsung, says Strategy Analytics.
“The 5G category is the main engine of smartphone growth today and for the next decade,” Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, associate director, said in a Strategy Analytics report.
China and the United States are the two largest 5G countries for creating huge demand for 5G smartphones. Apple iPhone, Huawei, and Samsung are the top-three brands that together will capture two-thirds of all 5G smartphone sales globally this year.
5G smartphone business is facing several challenges at present. Many 5G smartphone models are expensive, most 5G carrier networks are incomplete, while multiple waves of coronavirus are causing consumer fatigue in Western markets like the US and Europe.
Canalys projects that global 5G smartphone shipments will reach nearly 280 million units in 2020, with 62 percent of these in Greater China, followed by North America and EMEA. Average selling price of 5G smartphone in Europe is expected to come down, reaching at US$765 in 2021 and US$477 in 2024.
A Gartner report in July said 5G network infrastructure market revenue will almost double in 2020 to reach $8.1 billion in 2020.
Gartner also predicts that SPs in Greater China (China, Taiwan and Hong Kong), mature Asia Pacific, North America and Japan will reach 5G coverage across 95 percent of national populations by 2023.
Greater China leads in 5G development, with 49.4 percent of worldwide investment in 2020 attributed to the region. Cost effective infrastructure manufactured in China coupled with state sponsorship and reduced regulatory barriers is paving the way for major SPs in China to build 5G coverage.
Gartner expects that 5G investment will rebound modestly in 2021 as SPs seek to capitalize on changed behaviors sparked by populations’ reliance on communication networks. The 5G network investment will exceed LTE / 4G in 2022.
SPs will gradually add stand-alone (SA) capabilities to their non-stand-alone (NSA) 5G networks. 15 percent of SPs will operate stand-alone 5G networks that do not rely on 4G network infrastructure by 2023.
