5G smartphones are projected to dominate the mobile future, with Chinese brands leading the 5G market. China's 5G phone market is expected to increase by 5.1% in 2020.
Chinese benchmark platform Antutu (安兔兔) released its January list of the top 10 most powerful Android smartphones in China. The results revealed that, among the top 10, Vivo smartphones are leading the list, with three models standing out: Vivo iQOO Neo 855, with an average Antutu score of 504.796 points, Vivo iQOO Pro 5G and NEX 3 5G, with 502.288 and 498.223 points, respectively. The list is completed with Xiaomi, Oppo and Huawei phones.
The January list shows how Chinese manufacturers are engaged in developing the best 5G handsets in the market, the development of which requires the most advanced technologies and sophisticated software.
Since 2019, China, the United States, and South Korean phone makers have set up their goals of developing and deploying the 5G technology. However, China has made the first breakthrough in mass production and application of 5G networks and completed a great leap over its counterparts. It seems clear that it won't take long for 5G smartphones to take over 4G phones; if this happens with the Chinese phone makers on the top of the market, they will continue to dominate – and profit the most from – the most advanced 5G networks.
Despite there not being many 5G phones in the market, rumors have been circulating for months that Apple is preparing to launch its first 5G phones this year – in this case, that will be the launch of the iPhone 12 or a 5G version of iPhone 11. By incorporating the 5G flagship tech on iPhones, Apple may increase its market shares in China; however, the price issue is still playing a significant role in the market, which is a sort of headache for the company as it aims to increase its phone shipments.
The Chinese smartphone market is dominated by domestic phone brands: Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo. According to research firm Canalys, Huawei dominated the China smartphone market in 2019 by grabbing 35% of market share, which translates to 142 million phones shipped followed by Oppo with 65.7 million units (17.8%), Vivo with 62.7 million (17%) and Xiaomi with 38.8 million (10.5%). Besides, Apple phones only took a so-so share of 7.5% while Samsung, the world number one, may be condemned to leave China smartphone market soon, with a tiny percentage of less than 1%.
By 2020, the 5G market is projected to register the highest growth, particularly in three regions: the Middle East and North Africa by 5.9%; Asia in the Pacific area by 5.7%; and China (including the Taiwan and Hong Kong) with 5.1%, according to research firm Gartner.
As for now, China is trying to halt the ongoing outbreak of a new coronavirus that has spread throughout the country, and which is expected to have a severe impact on the smartphone market by cutting it down by 5% in the first half of 2020.