Huawei to lead 5G smartphone market with around 74 million unit production this year: TrendForce

More and more smartphone makers are stepping up their efforts to bring new 5G smartphones in the market. Recently, research from TrendForce indicates that in 2020, the total smartphone production will 1.24 billion units, of which 235 million units will be 5G enabled.

Among the 235 million units, Huawei will lead 2020 with the most 5G smartphone production volume of around 74 million units with around 31% of the total market share.

“Huawei has shifted its focus to the domestic Chinese market under the impact of U.S. sanctions and in preparation for China’s active 5G commercialization efforts.” wrote TrendForce.

Huawei will be followed by Apple, as its iPhone 12 series will be 5G ready and expected to produce about 70 million units this year, landing the company in second place.

Samsung comes third and has been experiencing setbacks in the Chinese market in recent years. Although these setbacks have not seriously affected its global market share and revenue, they have considerably slowed Samsung’s growth in the 5G smartphone market.

“As Huawei’s aggressive domestic expansion in the past few years has compressed the market shares of the three brands in the Chinese market, they have been actively focusing on increasing overseas market shares to maintain their yearly production performances.” says the researcher.

Mid-to-low end 5G chipset to contribute in the rise of 5G smartphones in 2021.

TrendForce’s 2021 forecast reveals that an aggressive push by mobile processor manufacturers will lead to the rapidly increasing presence of 5G chipsets in the mid-to-low end market.

This evolution in 5G chipset will drive 5G smartphone production to surpass 500 million units in 2021, which will potentially account for about 40% of the total smartphone market.

Once the 5G chipset price reaches a stable range, the phone makers will gain more share in the 5G smartphone market by reducing the price of the 5G smartphones at around RMB1000 ($140).

(Source)