5G Ecosystem – April
Not surprisingly 5G vendor growth remained relatively flat during what would be considered a difficult period for the CE space, although overall 5G device count was up 2.9% in April and 5G phone offerings grew 5.6% m/m, albeit the slowest growth for 5G phones in April since we began tracking the data. April tends to be the strongest month in 2Q for 5G phone offerings so we would expect to see relatively little 5G phone offering growth in May. Most other 5G device metrics remained flat in April with lockdowns in China, the war in Ukraine and inflation all contributing to a general lack of growth in the CE space and some hesitancy about the timing of product releases.
China’s original goal for 2022 was to install an additional 600,000 5G base stations, a 42% increase in the total base station count over last year and while China’s carriers saw strong 5G subscriber growth early this year, we expect COVID lockdowns have slowed both base station installs and potential subscriber growth since then. This might slow China’s longer-term plan to have 3.64m base stations active by the end of 2025, or 26 for every 10,000 Chinese citizens, up from 5/person in 2020. We do note that while lockdowns have slowed 5G base station installation growth in the past, the fact that the government has set these goals for the country and that the carriers must comply, we have seen a rapid return to installations as soon as restrictions are lifted, so we see the possibility that China will still meet its short-term and long-term 5G base station goals, despite the lockdowns.
China’s original goal for 2022 was to install an additional 600,000 5G base stations, a 42% increase in the total base station count over last year and while China’s carriers saw strong 5G subscriber growth early this year, we expect COVID lockdowns have slowed both base station installs and potential subscriber growth since then. This might slow China’s longer-term plan to have 3.64m base stations active by the end of 2025, or 26 for every 10,000 Chinese citizens, up from 5/person in 2020. We do note that while lockdowns have slowed 5G base station installation growth in the past, the fact that the government has set these goals for the country and that the carriers must comply, we have seen a rapid return to installations as soon as restrictions are lifted, so we see the possibility that China will still meet its short-term and long-term 5G base station goals, despite the lockdowns.
5G Ecosystem - Primary Indicators - Source: SCMR LLC, GSA.com
5G Vendor Count & Growth - Source: SCMR LLC, GSA
Selected 5G Devices - Device Offerings - Source: SCMR LLC, GSA
5G Smartphone Unit Volume & ROC - Source: SCMR LLC, GSA
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