[March 22, 2018] |
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Strategy Analytics: 2G Feature Phones in Emerging Markets Surge While Saturated Regions Await 5G
Strategy
Analytics in its newly published report Global
Handset Sales Forecast by 88 Countries and 19 Technologies: 2003 to 2023
finds that while the first 5G commercial handsets will go on sale from
early 2019, sales will not begin to scale up until 2021 when volumes
approach 5% of global handset sales. "5G smartphone sales will begin in
China, Japan, South Korea and the USA from 2019," says Senior Analyst Ville-Petteri
Ukonaho. "But volumes in 2019 will be in just the millions,
and only barely in the tens of millions in 2020." Few large-scale 5G
networks, only a handful of 5G handset models from phone makers
available, along with high-prices for 5G smartphones and lack of
compelling use cases will limit sales of the next-generation devices in
their first few years.
"By 2021, 5G networks in key countries in Asia and North America will
cover many urban centers, giving customers a reason to purchase 5G
smartphones," says Ken
Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics (News - Alert). "Nearly 5% of handsets sold
in 2021 will be 5G smartphones. By 2023, as 5G smartphone prices
continue to fall and next-generation wireless networks are built out
across much of the developed world, 5G handset sales will number in the
hundreds of millions."
>
Phil
Kendall, Director of Service Provider Strategies noted, "Our worldwide
cellular forecast report finds that 5G subscriptions boosted by
device economies of scale coming from China's early involvement in
network deployments will ramp to almost 600m in our moderate case
scenario by 2023."
"Meanwhile," says Senior VP David
Kerr, "some older generation wireless technologies will continue to
flourish. Specifically, 2G and 4G handsets will continue to have long
lifespans, with both carrying on into the next decade, even as 3G
devices fade away." Strategy Analytics new report concludes that even as
5G smartphone sales are rapidly ramping up in 2023, 2G feature phones
will account for nearly one in ten handsets sold that year, as
new-to-mobile customers in emerging markets, particularly in Africa,
purchase their first mobile phones.
The report highlights the fact that 4G LTE (News - Alert), currently the dominant
handset technology worldwide, will remain a mainstay for mobile phones
through 2023 and beyond. 4G handset sales volumes continue to grow and
will do so through 2020, when they will account for 4 out of 5 handsets
sold. Well into the next decade 4G LTE will be the mainstay technology
powering most of the world's handsets.
Strategy Analytics finds in its latest report that despite recent
slowing growth in global handset sales, there are still many pockets of
opportunity for Mobile Network Operators and Handset Vendors. There
remain hundreds of millions of potential first-time mobile phone
customers in emerging markets, particularly in Africa and parts of Asia.
These customers are looking for reliable and inexpensive means of
communication, making feature phones of particular interest to this
segment. Meanwhile, in mature developed markets like China, much of
Europe, Japan, South Korea and the USA, growth is stagnating and handset
replacement cycles are lengthening. 5G, while still several years off
for most potential customers, represents a way to kick-start stagnating
smartphone sales as customers discover new use cases powered by
ultra-high-speed data rates and super-low latency.
The report Global
Handset Sales Forecast by 88 Countries and 19 Technologies: 2003 to 2023
is available to Strategy
Analytics clients of our Emerging
Devices Technologies research service. The report tracks and
forecasts handset sales by 1st generation through 2G, 3G, 4G
and the coming 5G technologies across 88 countries.
About Strategy Analytics
Strategy Analytics, Inc. provides the competitive edge with advisory
services, consulting and actionable market intelligence for emerging
technology, mobile and wireless, digital consumer and automotive
electronics companies. With offices in North America, Europe and Asia,
Strategy Analytics delivers insights for enterprise success.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180322005750/en/
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