India’s 5G smartphone shipments will overtake 4G shipments in 2023: Counterpoint Research

India’s shipments of 5G smartphones will surpass those of 4G shipments by the end of next year, driven by mass adoption of the high-speed network and increased sales of handsets in lower price brackets, it said. market research firm Counterpoint said Thursday. .

Although overall smartphone shipments in India are estimated to see an annual decline this year due to component supply issues and macroeconomic factors, 5G will also continue to drive smartphone demand in 2023, Counterpoint added. .

India’s 5G data speed is expected to be around 10 times faster than 4G, with the network seen as vital for emerging technologies such as self-driving cars and artificial intelligence.

The share of 5G handsets in the lower price bracket (below Rs. 20,000 rupees) is expected to climb to 30% in 2023 from 4% last year, Counterpoint said.

Indian telecom leader Reliance is working with Alphabet’s Google to launch a budget 5G smartphone after it became the biggest spender in the $19 billion (about 1.6 lakh crore) 5G spectrum auction ) in India in August.

Cumulative 5G smartphone shipments will cross the 100 million mark in the second quarter of 2023 and surpass 4G smartphone shipments by the end of next year, according to Counterpoint.

The analytics firm expects limitations such as component supply shortages, inflation, geopolitical conflicts and limited 5G network availability to ease by the end of 2023, leading to mass adoption of 5G.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is seeking to push Apple, Samsung and other mobile phone makers to prioritize rolling out software upgrades to support 5G in the country as many models are not ready. for the recently launched broadband service, Reuters reported.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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