5G network connectivity has not attained significant spread in many countries but China has tremendous progress in that regard. That progress may be what the 5G phone market needs to project it to a lofty height. DigiTimes research has now predicted that shipment of 5G phones may reach 250 million units in 2020.

That is a tall order but the research firm is confident about it, tipping China to account for a massive 170 million units which are about 70 percent of the forecasted shipment. %G phone are significantly popular in China and in recent times, the market has witnessed a sift from just flagship models carrying 5G chips to mid-range models having same. Within this year, OEMs are expected to bring 5G to entry-level models.

Majority of phones that are expected to be shipped in China will be by Huawei which has maintained a firm grip of the market for a long time. That grip has even been strengthened as a result of the ban by the US which made it difficult to sell outside China due to the absence of Google Mobile Services on its phones.

Between January and March this year, an estimated 24 million 5G phones were shipped leaving a deficit of 225 million units to be covered between April an December. That looks unattainable but then, the second and third quarter has seen a massive influx of affordable phones in the mid-range segment which should boost sales especially in China as 5G phones are expected to account for 52.7% of total smartphones shipped in the Asian country this year. The global market is expected to contribute only around 82.3 million units which should be below 10% of global smartphone shipments in 2020. This is due to the rollouts of 5G networks in most other parts of the world which have been delayed by the COVID 19 pandemic.

Digitimes Research also maintains its April forecast that global smartphone shipments for 2020 will contract 15.2% to 1.15 billion units as global economic activities remain weak amid the lingering impacts of the pandemic.

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