5G devices' sales in China are growing fast.
On July 6, market research firm Strategy Analytics reported that Chinese brands including OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi have reached a staggering number of sales – around USD 15 billion – in Q1 2021, twice that of LTE in the same period.
Data shows that Chinese smartphone manufacturers are rapidly transforming from 4G to 5G. As high-end devices shift towards 5G, the market size of LTE mobile phones has shrunk by 50% in the past quarter.
According to the report, the revenue for 5G achieved an over 500% growth in Q1 2021. Shipment volume to the Chinese market rose 35% year-on-year, compared with the global average of 24%. However, Apple still led in the shipments and revenue of 5G, plus the 4G LTE devices.
In the global top-10 list by revenue for 5G, there are seven Chinese vendors, but in terms of consumers' willingness, they are not yet comparable to high-end brands such as Apple and Samsung.
Chinese manufacturers are bringing higher value to the international market, which forces other brands to improve their mid-range product portfolio.