Canalys: 5G smartphone shipments will exceed 50% in 2023, surpassing 4G for the first time

China is a key driver of such rapid growth rates, accounting for 34% of all 5G smartphone shipments in 2023, compared to 19% in North America and 17% in Asia Pacific (other regions).

China issued 5G commercial licenses ahead of schedule last month in an effort to better compete with other global markets.

"The role of the Chinese government and the active investment of operators and equipment suppliers were crucial to the early issuance of commercial licenses," said Nicole Peng, vice president of mobile business at Canalys.

Canalys predicts that as early as next year, 17.5% of smartphones shipped to the Chinese market will support 5G functions, and this proportion will rise to 62.7% by 2023. It also points out that the strong government technology roadmap and the financial capabilities of Chinese telecom operators will drive the rapid increase of 5G penetration in the Chinese market.

"China is also home to many major 5G equipment suppliers and smartphone vendors, which will be a positive marketing driver in the coming years," said Nicole Peng.

This year alone, China's telecom operators will invest a total of US$5 billion in 5G and deploy 70,000 to 90,000 base stations.

"Given that the Chinese government has just implemented the long-awaited number portability policy, all three operators will promote it more actively later this year to acquire 5G early adopters and high-value users," said analyst Mo Jia.

Mo Jia pointed out that Chinese local suppliers such as Huawei, ZTE, Xiaomi and OPPO are all providing 5G mobile phones to the country's telecom operators, while Samsung is using 5G to try to regain some market share in China.

"However, Apple will not release a 5G phone for the time being, and loyal iPhone users will have to wait another year, which may cause them to turn to other rivals with fierce competition."