The global 5G smartphone shipments will grow from 2 million units in 2019 to 1.5 billion in 2025, according to a 5G report prepared by Strategy Analytics.
Telecom operators such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, SK Telecom, DT, Orange, NTT Docomo, China Mobile, Airtel, Singtel, among others, are expected to launch their 5G services in 2020 or earlier to capture the growth opportunities from both retail and enterprise customers.
Global 5G smartphone shipments will grow at an average annual rate of 250 percent between 2019 and 2025. Leading smartphone companies such as Apple and Samsung are yet to announce their 5G roadmap.
Strategy Analytics also said global 5G smartphone revenue will surge +20,000 percent between 2018 and 2025. The analyst firm did not reveal the revenue size of the 5G smartphone market. The phone and network industry is expected to face teething issues in the initial phase of 5G launches.
Sweden-based telecom equipment maker Ericsson predicted that the number of 5G subscriptions will reach 1 billion in 2023. 5G will cover more than 20 percent of the population six years from now, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report.
Strategy Analytics said the 5G category will be the fastest-growing sector of the smartphone industry for the next decade. Growth opportunities are huge for companies such as top semiconductor providers such as Qualcomm, Intel and Apple.
“We expect brands such as Qualcomm, Intel, InterDigital, Ericsson, Apple, Samsung, Vodafone and China Mobile to be among the companies at the forefront of the upcoming 5G smartphone wave,” said Ken Hyers, director at Strategy Analytics.
The next generation of smartphones that can access high-speed 5G mobile networks represents a huge growth opportunity for carriers, infrastructure suppliers, device vendors, chipset makers and software developers.
5G smartphones will be launched commercially in advanced mobile countries such as Japan, South Korea and United States by 2019.
Strategy Analytics said 5G technology standards are not yet market-ready, while previous launches of 3G and 4G smartphones in the past often arrived much later than promised.
Baburajan K
