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MARKET ANALYSIS: BEYOND 5G, TOWARD 6G
Consumer 5G Opens Door to Development

Opportunities

By Cédric Malaquin, Mohammed Tmimi, and Antoine Bonnabel, Yole Développement

Now that the technology is available, expect new market even faster than LTE did more than
services to follow. 10 years ago.
The 5G smartphone market will more than
double in 2021 from last year’s 226 million
ow that mobile network operators tions. One is virtual shopping, which could units, and 5G will represent 50% of smart-
(MNOs) have started to advance revolutionize the retail customer experience. phone sales between 2022 and 2023. Though
their deployment of 5G networks, Another strong developmental focus is cloud 5G was driven mainly by the Chinese market
Nthe industry is turning its atten- gaming, for which consumers need access in 2020, a clear acceleration can now be seen
tion to the critical question of return on to powerful platforms and for which strong, in the United States as well as in the Japanese
investment. Optimizing ROI requires the fast, low-latency communication is required. and European markets. By the end of 2021,
monitoring of key metrics, including the 5G coverage is an essential enabler for U.S. network providers will have started roll-
average revenue per user and the global cost this specific, high-value, and rapidly devel- ing out their C-band networks, with network
of the network. In this regard, 5G has been oping application. carrier Verizon in the lead, thus spreading
designed to be more efficient than 4G and, An interesting characteristic of cloud the 5G broadband network nationwide. This
by extension, more efficient than all previous gaming is that it is pushed not only by initiative, combined with the current efforts
generations of communications technology. network carriers but also by the GAFAM com- to deploy a 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave)
At the end of 2020, all network carriers panies (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, grid with base stations, repeaters, and other
globally started to launch new services for and Microsoft), which have recognized the means to improve coverage, will make the
consumers based on their 5G networks. strong potential for development around the U.S. 5G network one of the fastest and most
The main new applications are virtual reality application. Expect to see the development sophisticated in the world.
and augmented reality. The technological of new services — and the creation of a new
approaches for these two applications at era for advanced digital communications — SMARTPHONE OEMs TO LEVERAGE
the forefront of 5G innovation have been as an additional benefit of these companies’ RF FRONT-END PLAYERS’ EXPERTISE
oriented toward high-quality streaming and entrance into the field. Smartphone OEMs have upgraded their
immersive experience. As a result of these dynamics, with MNOs product lines, accommodating the latest air
Immersion can come, for example, from and GAFAMs working together on 5G adop- standard in each of their market segments so
multi-view–angle technology and can find tion, this new generation of communications that consumers can get access to 5G phones
some interesting practical implementa- technology is penetrating the smartphone starting from the low price point of US$150

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

JUNE 2021 | www.eetimes.eu