5G package users exceed 200 million, 5G mobile phones are accelerating into the popularization period

Recently, China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have successively released their operating data for October. The data shows that in terms of 5G business, the total number of 5G package users of the three companies has exceeded 200 million.

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Since its commercial use last year, 5G network construction has made rapid progress, the user scale has grown rapidly, and 5G applications are gradually being integrated into thousands of industries.

At the same time, the price thresholds for 5G packages and 5G phones are also gradually falling. At present, the entry-level 5G packages of the three major operators have dropped to less than 100 yuan, and several 5G "thousand-yuan phones" have appeared on the market. Industry insiders predict that 5G phones are expected to drop to less than 1,000 yuan by the end of this year, which will accelerate the popularization of 5G phones.

The number of 5G package users exceeds 200 million

This year is regarded as the year of 5G popularization, and the development of 5G users of the three operators has naturally attracted special attention from the market.

According to the operating data released by the three operators in October, China Mobile's 5G package customers increased by 15.201 million in that month, reaching a total of 128.793 million; China Telecom's 5G package users increased by 7.06 million, reaching a total of 71.86 million; China Unicom did not announce the number of 5G package users as usual. Data shows that China Mobile and China Telecom alone have more than 200 million 5G package users.

It should be pointed out that the 5G packages currently activated by some users are still running on 4G mobile terminals. These users are expected to become real 5G users after the 5G "phone replacement wave".

Data shows that as of July 2020, 130 5G mobile phones in my country have obtained network access and sales licenses, and the prices of some models have dropped below 1,500 yuan, a drop of nearly 90% from 2019.

Consumer technology market research firm Strategy Analystics predicted at the beginning of this year that global shipments of 5G smartphones will reach 199 million units in 2020, and China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Germany will account for 90% of all 5G smartphone sales.

Judging from the current data, the sales volume of 5G mobile phones in China has far exceeded expectations. At the just-concluded China Mobile Global Partner Conference, Wang Hengjiang, deputy general manager of China Terminal Company, disclosed that China Mobile's 5G terminal sales volume was 50 million units last year, and has exceeded 85 million units so far this year. It is certain that it will exceed 100 million units by the end of the year.

However, it is worth noting that although the sales of 5G mobile phones are on an upward trend overall, they have declined since June this year, indicating that 5G technology has not yet become a driving factor for consumers to change their phones.

5G packages drop to less than 100 yuan

Behind the popularization of 5G packages is the decline in prices and the increase in demand.

Recently, the blue book "China Internet Development Report 2020" released by the China Cyberspace Academy shows that the prices of 5G packages of the three major operators have dropped to less than 100 yuan.

It is understood that the entry-level 5G packages of the three major operators are all priced at less than 130 yuan, and can enjoy corresponding discounts. Taking China Mobile as an example, the 128 yuan 5G package is only 89.6 yuan after a 30% discount, including 30G traffic and 200 minutes of voice calls.

New demands such as mobile office and remote teaching brought about by the epidemic have also become a catalyst for the accelerated popularization of 5G.

"During the epidemic, the demand for remote work, online learning, and online entertainment has increased, and network traffic has exploded, up 50% from the end of 2019, and as high as 60-70% in Wuhan and other regions." Liu Liehong, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said that in terms of working from home at the beginning of the year, this measure was basically adopted across the country, and in the face of a strong traffic impact, the network finally withstood the test and did not experience problems such as network paralysis that occurred abroad. "And when using 5G mobile phones to surf the Internet in first- and second-tier cities, we will be in a 5G network environment for a longer time, which also represents the coverage and stability of the 5G network."

The "5G Economy" report released by IHS Markit shows that businesses, governments and all sectors of society have become deeply aware of the importance of connectivity technology during the global epidemic, further accelerating this trend. The digital transformation of industries that usually take years to complete is accelerating dramatically.

At present, there are many 5G "thousand-yuan-level" products on the market, which will further promote the popularization of 5G

5G is becoming more popular, but what is missing?

Wang Chunhui, member of the Information and Communications Economics Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and professor at Zhejiang University, believes that current 5G applications are more concentrated in industry fields, and there is a lack of "killer" applications in the consumer market that are attractive to individual users.

In this regard, on November 16, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com, Meituan and other companies to hold a symposium on the development of 5G technology applications for Internet companies. Liu Liehong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out that Internet companies should seize the innovation and development opportunities brought by 5G technology, give full play to their existing technology and resource advantages, deepen their consumer-end business, and focus on key applications of 5G technology such as ultra-high-definition video, virtual reality, and holographic video, continuously improve user experience, and promote the transformation and upgrading of mass consumption.

With the significant increase in the penetration rate of 5G mobile phones, brands such as Huawei, OPPO, and realme have launched several 5G "thousand-yuan phones" on the market. China Telecom has also launched the "Tianyi No. 1" 5G cloud phone, priced at only 999 yuan.

Chen Fengwei, deputy general manager of China Unicom's Terminal and Channel Support Center, said that the biggest obstacle to the popularization of 5G mobile phones at present is the shortage of upstream chips and components. This will cause the large-scale launch of 5G mobile phones priced at 1,000 yuan originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year to be postponed by one quarter.

Zhou Chen, executive vice president of Ziguang ZTE, also believes that from the perspective of the entire industry chain, what is most lacking now is entry-level 5G chips.

However, this situation is expected to be resolved in the near future. Chip manufacturers such as Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Unisoc have recently released 5G chips targeting the sub-1,000 yuan market, which are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2021.

"The price reduction of 5G mobile phone chips and 5G modules will promote the scale of 5G thousand-yuan mobile phones. In the future, only 5G mobile phones will be available above the 799-yuan price range." Chen Fengwei pointed out that it is inevitable that the popularization of 5G terminals will be further accelerated, and the penetration rate of 5G mobile phones is expected to exceed 90% next year.

Yang Guang, director of wireless operator strategy at Strategy Analytics, pointed out that although the competition in the mobile phone market will become more intense, for the winners, mid- and low-end models not only guarantee overall shipments and market share, but also play the role of promoters and popularizers of new technologies to a large extent.

Yang Guang said that with leading companies such as Huawei and OPPO increasing their investment in the thousand-yuan phone market, the process of popularizing 5G mobile phones will be accelerated, and major mobile phone manufacturers are becoming the driving forces of this change.