Huawei will lead the world in the production of 5G smartphones despite Apple launching its devices later this year. 5G continues to be a hot topic in the smartphone market this year as smartphone brands and mobile processor makers such as Qualcomm and MediaTek push to increase their share of the 5G market. Of the planned production of 1,24 billion smartphones this year, 5G phone production is expected to reach 235 million units, a penetration rate of 18.9%, and is expected to reach a penetration rate of around 75 %. in 2023, according to research firm TrendForce. Chinese brands are expected to occupy four of the top six spots for 5G smartphone brands ranked by production volume, as the Chinese government's 5G marketing efforts have been particularly aggressive, leading the way in 5G base station deployment and country network coverage. in every first place in the country. global 5G industry. Chinese brands, which were ahead of their competitors in 5G strategies, had a 75% share of the global 5G smartphone market in the first half of the year. Huawei has been focusing on the Chinese domestic market under the impact of US sanctions and in preparation for active 5G commercialization efforts in China.
![]()
(Image credit: future)
Huawei in aggressive domestic expansion
Huawei is expected to produce around 74 million 5G smartphones this year. Apple's annual production of 5G smartphones is expected to total around 70 million units in 2020, putting the company in second place. However, 5G features will increase the production cost of smartphones as a result. If Apple decides to reflect this additional cost directly in the retail prices of the iPhone 12 series, it could reduce its consumers' willingness to buy, which in turn would affect the sales performance of the new iPhones. Samsung has experienced setbacks in the Chinese market in recent years. While these setbacks did not seriously affect its global market share and revenue, they have significantly slowed Samsung's growth in the 5G smartphone market. Production of Samsung's 5G smartphones this year is forecast at 29 million units, putting the company in third place globally. Vivo, Oppo (including OnePlus, OPPO, and Realme) and Xiaomi are tied for fourth place. As Huawei's aggressive domestic expansion in recent years has compressed the three brands' market shares in the Chinese market, they have actively focused on increasing overseas market share to maintain their annual production output. . The annual production volumes of 5G smartphones from Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi are expected to reach around 21 million, 20 million, and 19 million units, respectively. TrendForce's analysis of future developments in the 5G market shows that an aggressive push by mobile processor manufacturers will lead to the rapidly growing presence of 5G chipsets in the low- and mid-range market, boosting production. of smartphones. 5G will exceed 500 million units by 2021, potentially accounting for around 40% of the total smartphone market. Once 5G chip prices reach a stable level this year, smartphone brands may look to gain additional shares in the 5G smartphone market by sacrificing gross margins.