Huawei to ship most 5G smartphones this year: TrendForce 

Chinese smartphone giant Huawei is expected to produce the highest number of 5G smartphones this year, according to market research firm TrendForce.

This will be followed by Apple and Samsung Electronics, the research firm said.

A total of 235 million units of 5G smartphones will be produced this year. Huawei will produce 74 million units and control 31% market share. This will be followed by Apple’s 70 million units for 30% market share and Samsung’s 29 million units with 12% market share.

Vivo will produce 21 million units for 9% market share; Oppo will make 20 million units and control 8% market share; and Xiaomi will make 19 million units for 8% share, TrendForce said.

Samsung was the first among these vendors to launch a 5G smartphone with Galaxy S10 5G launch in April, 2019. The company has previously said it moved 6.7 million 5G smartphones last year.

The South Korean conglomerate 5G models include __ Galaxy S10 5G, Galaxy Note10 5G, Galaxy Note10 Plus 5G, Galaxy A90 5G and Galaxy Fold.

The Galaxy S20 series launched earlier this year all supported 5G connectivity but sales have dropped considerably compared to its predecessors.

According to CounterPoint, Samsung controlled 43% of market share last year followed by Huawei’s 35%.

Roll out of 5G networks and smartphone sales was the most active in China and Huawei has been performing well in its home country, a person knowledgeable on the matter said. On the other hand, Samsung only sold few models in China, they said. The South Korean tech giant would have to prepare for when Chinese vendors roll out their 5G smartphones into global markets.

As of last month, 5G subscribers in China has exceeded 100 million, according to the combined figures of local carriers there.

Meanwhile, TrendForce forecasts total smartphone shipment this year to reach 1.24 billion units. 5G smartphones will account for 18.9% of the total. 5G smartphone shipment will exceed 500 million units next year.