India's 5G Smartphone Shipments to Exceed 4G Shipments in 2023: Counterpoint Research

5G handset share in lower-price band is reported to surge to 30 percent in 2023 from 4 percent last year.

By Reuters | Updated: 29 December 2022 16:06 IST

India's 5G Smartphone Shipments to Exceed 4G Shipments in 2023: Counterpoint Research

Photo Credit: Pixabay

5G data speed in India is expected to be about 10 times faster than that of 4G

Highlights

5G smartphone shipments to cross the 100-million mark in Q2 2023
Govt pushing phone manufacturers to prioritise 5G software upgrades
Reliance is working with Google to release budget 5G smartphone

India's 5G smartphone shipments will exceed that of 4G shipments by the end of next year, driven by the mass adoption of the high-speed network and the rise in the sale of handsets in the lower-price bands, market research firm Counterpoint said on Thursday.

Although India's overall smartphone shipments are estimated to see a yearly decline this year due to component supply issues and macroeconomic factors, 5G will continue to push smartphone demand in 2023 as well, Counterpoint added.

5G data speed in India is expected to be about 10 times faster than that of 4G, with the network seen as vital for emerging technologies like self-driving cars and artificial intelligence.

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5G handset share in the lower-price band (less than Rs. 20,000 rupees) is expected to surge to 30 percent in 2023 from 4 percent last year, Counterpoint said.

India's telecom leader Reliance is working with Alphabet's Google to launch a budget 5G smartphone after it emerged as the biggest spender in India's $19 billion (roughly Rs. 1.6 lakh crore) 5G spectrum auction in August.

Cumulative 5G smartphone shipments will cross the 100-million mark in the second quarter of 2023 and surpass 4G smartphone shipments by the end of next year, according to Counterpoint.

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The analysis firm expects limitations like component supply shortages, inflation, geopolitical conflicts and limited availability of 5G networks to ease by the end of 2023, leading to the mass adoption of 5G.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is looking to push Apple, Samsung, and other mobile phone manufacturers to prioritise rolling out software upgrades to support 5G in the country as many models are not ready for the recently launched high-speed service, Reuters reported.

5G is now available both on Android and iPhone in India. But is it any good? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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