5G smartphones to represent 50% of global smartphone sales revenue by 2025: Juniper Research

5G smartphones will represent more than 50% of smartphone sales revenue by 2025, rising to $337 billion from $108 billion in 2021, as per a new study by Juniper Research.

But the availability of lower-tier 5G smartphones will be crucial to increasing 5G adoption in emerging markets.

By 2025, the market research firm predicts that Android smartphone prices will be 65% lower than global iOS smartphone prices.

Additionally, Android devices owing to their lower average cost will help Android dominate 5G handset markets in regions such as Latin America.

On the flip side, the iOS devices in developed markets will account for 40% of global 5G smartphone revenue attributable to North America and Europe by 2025, it said.

As per market research firms, even without commercial 5G network, India has become one of the top four markets for 5G device shipments trailing behind China, USA, and Japan, with the lowest average selling price at $410.

Amongst the top 5 vendors, Realme had the highest 5G contribution and led the space with a 23% share in 2Q21, followed by OnePlus and Oppo, as per IDC. OnePlus led the premium 5G market in the second quarter.

Juniper Research said handset vendors should ensure that the hardware maximizes the benefits of mobile cloud solutions.

It added that “successful” handset vendors will include radios capable of processing large bandwidths and ultra-low latency to ensure that users are able to use cloud computing services efficiently, while being price competitive.

It underlined that the impending ‘right-to-repair’ legislation in North America and Europe is likely to limit the long-term 5G smartphone shipment revenue as more users would choose to repair their old handsets rather than upgrading to new generation devices.

“The effect of these 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,” said Research author Adam Wears.