5G is the next “big thing” in the wireless world and all standard smartphones will soon be made to accommodate 5G service. According to a recent report by Juniper Research, 5G smartphones will make up about 50% of handset revenue. In terms of dollars, that’s an estimated $337 billion in phone sales in 2025, which is 3X more than the expected $108 billion in revenue expected in 2021.
The latest report, “5G Smartphones: Trends, Regional Analysis & Market Forecasts 2021-2026,” details that phones that include radios able to “process large bandwidths and deliver ultra-low latency to ensure that handset users are able to use cloud computing services efficiently, whilst remaining price competitive” will see the biggest success.
Adoption of 5G handsets has been slow, mostly due to the price and lack of availability of 5G networks across the United States. According to Juniper, one way to boost sales of 5G handsets is for manufacturers to produce more affordable 5G handsets. Currently, most 5G enabled phones average about $1,000 a pop. However, the upside is that Juniper predicts that by 2025 Android phones will be about 65% cheaper than iPhones, thus making Android phones more competitive in places like Latin America because of their affordability.
However, if you’re an Apple enthusiast, the 5G enabled iPhones will likely dominate in sales in North America and Europe making up about 40% of the global 5G smartphone sales by 2025. Though these plans could hit a snag with legislation on both continents that could give device owners the “right to repair” their older phones, so they aren’t forced to buy new devices they don’t want. This move could impact the number of 5G phone sales forecasted in the coming years.
The author behind Juniper’s report, Adam Wears, says, “The effect of these (right-to-repair) laws will not be felt initially, as consumers adopt 5G smartphones to leverage the high speeds and reduced latency of 5G networks. Hardware vendors must use this opportunity to build out new device capabilities to encourage consumers to continue regularly upgrading and avoid churn to competitors.”
Source: Phone Arena