How many 5g mobiles are already sold in the world?

In 2019, almost most of the major mobile manufacturers competed to launch their 5G proposals. Some made it and some did not.

The beginning has been slow. 5G smartphones only accounted for 1% of global mobile sales in 2019.

What does this mean? It is not a failure at all, considering that the support of 5G networks is just arriving in some regions, there are not so many options available and most of the mobiles with 5G technology are characterized by having a high cost.

Do you want to know how many 5G mobiles have been sold so far? Then take a look at the data series we share below.

Samsung takes the lead in 5G mobiles

Some mention that around 13.5 million 5G mobiles were sold in 2019, even though adoption was in slow motion. And Samsung became the leader of this race.

Samsung knew how to integrate 5G into its sales strategy, managing to distribute no less than 6.7 million Galaxy 5G worldwide.

An undisputed leader, so far, since this represents 53.9 of the global 5G mobile market, as mentioned by the Samsung team and illustrated in their infographic.

Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, Galaxy Note 10 5G and Note 10+ 5G have become real stars. Not forgetting the Galaxy A90 5G and the famous Galaxy Fold 5G.

Other data supports this deployment of Samsung. For example, according to Couterpoint's report on premium market, the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G alone accounted for more than a third of all 5G mobile sales in the third quarter of 2019.

And if we think exclusively of the Spanish market, Celestino García, vice president of Samsung in Spain, mentioned that more than 80% of 5G mobiles sold are from Samsung.

Huawei, Xiaomi, LG, Honor, OPPO, VIVO…

Samsung, although it leads this sector, is not the only one that has managed to captivate the audience with its 5G proposals. OPPO, Huawei, Xiaomi, ViVo are also in the running.

Although they have not published reports as detailed as Samsung, there is some data that shows that they have also excelled with their 5G mobiles in certain markets. According to a report by IHS Markit, LG ranked second in the 5G mobile market in Q3 2019:

• LG's 5G mobile shipments between Q2 and Q3 reached 700,000 units.
• That same amount was achieved together during the same period by Lenovo, Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, OPPO, and ZTE

On the other hand, Huawei, although the sales potential of 5G mobiles has been limited by US restrictions, it has not been left behind in its aspirations. It has gained an interesting presence in the Chinese market with its 5G mobiles, considering that they were launched at a premium price.

And he was not the only one. Taking a quick tour of the launch of the most outstanding models:

• Mate 30 5G and Mate 30 Pro 5G sold out their 100,000 stock in just one minute in the Chinese market
• Xiaomi's Redmi K30 sold out in the first 2 hours on sale in China
• LG V50 ThinQ 5G sold 100,000 units in its first week of launch in South Korea
• Honor V30 5G sold 100,000 in just 3 seconds in China
• Huawei Mate X managed to sell 100,000 per month since its launch on November 15
• Huawei Mate 20 X 5G sold out in minutes at its launch in the Chinese market

Obviously not all markets have the same reception. Not only due to the lack of options in 5G mobiles, but also due to having almost zero infrastructure for 5G technology. For example, according to a report by BayStreet Research, fewer than 30,000 5G mobiles were sold in the US market in the first quarter of 2019.

5G mobile sales will skyrocket in 2020

While 5G mobiles have moved timidly in 2019, 2020 will be a decisive year for the deployment of 5G technology.

Some predictions on the sale of 5G mobile devices in the coming years:

• According to the Strategy Analytics report, sales will take off in 2020, and it is estimated that they will reach one billion by 2025 globally.
• IHS Markit mentions that the demand for 5G mobiles is expected to reach 253 million units in 2020.
• According to estimates shared by Samsung, the sale of devices with 5G technology will increase by 1687% worldwide, representing 18% of the total volume of mobile sales
• Qualcomm expects to see 175 to 225 million 5G mobile sales in 2020, and about 450 million in 2021
• IDC shared a report that estimates that the shipment of 5G mobiles in 2020 will represent 8.9% of all mobiles, and will increase to 28.1% in 2023.
• On the other hand, Goldman Sachs estimate is more than 200 million 5G mobiles in 2020

Xiaomi has already expressed its plans to launch up to 10 5G phones this year, and Motorola has plans to launch premium 5G phones using Snapdragon 865.

And there are still brands that have not made their move. Apple could be preparing its 5G iPhones for this year, and it could get on the podium of 5G mobile sales, according to a report they share in Strategy Analitics, followed by Huawei.

And let's not forget Google, which has not yet included 5G in its Pixels. A few months ago, Brian Rakowski mentioned that 5G is not ready for consumers yet, so it was not the right time. However, we already know that Google follows its own strategy to boost the brand and hardly ever uses trends to do so.

When do you plan to upgrade to a 5G mobile?

If you are thinking about whether to buy a 5G mobile or wait, you are not the only one.

A report released at CES 2020 called “The Future of Devices”, based on a 2019 GSMA survey of 38,000 consumers in 36 countries, shares some interesting data.

The survey under the question "When do you plan to upgrade to 5G?" noted results like these:

• Only 30 - 40% of respondents in Europe, the US and Australia are willing to consider upgrading a 5G mobile in the short term.
• In Spain, only 20% would change to 5G as soon as it was available and 30% plan to upgrade to a 5G mobile but do not know when.
• Only respondents from China expressed a high predisposition to have a 5G mobile as soon as it was released on the market

Is it advisable to buy a 5G mobile at this time? We answered this question in a previous article taking into account a series of technical details.

On the other hand, even the 5G proposals in Spain are not as varied as users want, but it is a panorama that seems to change in 2020.