Chinese analysts expect 20% of world's smartphones to support 5G by 2020

The past year marked the dawn of the 5G smartphones and 2020 will bring affordability to the 5G handsets.

The movement has already begun with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as TCL, Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, Honor and Coolpad unveiling new 5G-enabled devices, priced at mid-range, within the span of a month.

Local research agencies revealed that five million 5G smartphones were sold in December alone, and the trend is only set to gain pace in the future. China has proved a substantial market for the devices with the country’s 5G infrastructure growing at a rapid pace.

Chinese analysts expect 20 percent of all smartphones in the sub-Chinese yuan (CNY) 2,000 segment (approx. Rs 20,500) to have 5G connectivity by 2020. They have also estimated a fifth of all global smartphones will support the next-generation network by 2021.

Currently, a substantial chunk of all 5G-enabled handsets are exclusively available in Chinese markets. Mid-range smartphones such as the Vivo X30 5G, Realme X50 5G and Xiaomi Redmi K30 5G are not available outside China.

Additionally, Huawei and Honor’s Google ban makes them impractical outside Chinese markets, while Vivo is yet to expand to the United States, the Middle East or European markets.

However, brands such as Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo and ZTE have already unveiled 5G smartphones in Europe, while Realme and Xiaomi are expected to follow suit.

With more countries joining the 5G revolution, smartphones supporting the next-gen network are expected to rise by 0.7 percent globally in 2020.

Companies in China are also expected to sell over 150 million 5G mobile phones in 2020, which will exceed shipments of 4G handsets. Additionally, both Qualcomm and MediaTek have confirmed affordable 5G chipsets in 2020.

While Qualcomm is yet to unveil its 600 series 5G chips, the MediaTek Dimensity 800 is expected to arrive for affordable smartphones in 2020. In the Chinese market, phones priced at as low as $200 (Roughly Rs 14,200) will have 5G connectivity by Q4 this year.