GSMA: Chinese companies and consumers are more interested in 5G than those in Europe and the United States

According to foreign media reports, the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) released a report today saying that Chinese companies and individual consumers have a strong interest in 5G and smart devices, far ahead of Europe and the United States.

Although the GSMA announced last month that it would cancel this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC), this did not stop it from releasing its annual report on the global mobile economy. The report shows that China is leading the world in interest in 5G and smart devices, and the United States will catch up with China in the next five years or so, while Europe and other countries are lagging behind.

China's strength in this regard can be seen in a number of GSMA survey results. GSMA said that due to early partnerships and local operator trials, Chinese companies' interest in 5G is in a "race" and reflects the widespread intention to use 5G in industrial environments.

By the end of 2018, Chinese companies were more interested in 5G network slicing (a new technology that comes with 5G, which means cutting existing networks into sections for use), edge computing, and low-latency services than other parts of the world. In addition, interest in higher data speeds also reached 74%.

The GSMA said China was a “notable exception” to the belief elsewhere that 4G was “good enough”, helping to triple the number of smart manufacturing IoT connections over the next five years.

Meanwhile, Chinese consumers are equally interested in 5G. Following the accelerated rollout of 5G in 2019, China now has the highest 5G upgrade intention rate in the world (70%), the second highest adult awareness of 5G (over 85%, second only to South Korea), and the highest willingness to pay more for 5G services (78%, compared to 60% in the United States).

In contrast, consumer interest in 5G in Europe and Japan has been more modest, but the GSMA expects 5G marketing ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics to improve user willingness to upgrade.

The report also shows that in addition to 5G, China is also a global leader in the smart home market. China has the highest ownership rate of smart TVs, smart speakers, smart home security cameras and other types of smart devices (security, lighting and energy controllers, etc.) by far.

The United States lags behind China in all of the above categories, while adoption rates are even lower in major European countries.