IDC: "Light and Thin" Returns In the Year One of 5G
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IDC: “Light and Thin” Returns In the Year One of 5G
Beijing, August 13, 2020 – On June 6, 2019, the Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China officially
issued 5G commercial licenses, marking the first year of
China's 5G commercialization. In August of the same year,
the first domestic 5G mobile phone was launched. Over
the course of one-year development, domestic 5G product
design has gone through a "heavy at first, then light" process.
However, the design of mobile phone products should always
be customer experience-driven at the core. IDC believes that
in the future, thin and light mobile phones will always occupy
an important position in the market.
In 2020, the development of domestic 5G infrastructure and
network coverage is still in the early stage. As of the end
of June, only about 410,000 5G base stations have been
built in China; however, following the “Device goes first”
direction, the market share of 5G smartphones in China
continued to soar. According to the "IDC China Monthly
Smartphone Tracker ", in the past year, the total shipments of
5G mobile phones have exceeded 67 million units. Since the
beginning of May this year, the proportion in a single month
has exceeded 50%.
Figure 1
- 1-
From the perspective of 5G mobile
phone design, in addition to
SoC or 5G baseband chips, the
corresponding antenna, radio
frequency, heat dissipation, and
larger-capacity batteries need to
occupy more space inside the
mobile phone and increase its
weight. Starting from the second
half of 2019, the proportion of
products with a weight of more
than 190g continued to increase
and reached more than 60% at
one time by the end of 2019.
The initial 5G mobile phones,
as the main driver of the heavy
products in the overall market,
mostly had weight exceeding
190g, and products above 200g
also accounted for a proportion
greater than 30%. However,
since the end of 2019, 5G
smartphones, produced by leading
manufacturers, which are under
190g and have a more user-
friendly holding experience, have
gradually entered the market
and saw explosive growth in
the second quarter of 2020.
As of June, nearly 50% of 5G
smartphones in the country are
light and thin phones which weigh
less than 190g.
Figure 2
- 2-
However, because the thinner
and lighter design compresses the
internal space of the mobile phone,
the balance and choice between
product performance and weight
will be an important challenge for
a while for vendors when they
plan, design, and position their
5G products. Throughout the
first half of 2020, all the products
targeting young and fashionable
people and sold through offline
channels were less than 190g.
But high-end flagship products
with more functions and stronger
performance, or the value-for-
money products that mainly sold in
online markets were not very strict
in terms of weight controls.
Figure 3
- 3-
Before November 2019, only ZTE
and China Mobile had launched
thin and light 5G mobile phones
lighter than 190g. Among the
leading manufacturers, OPPO first
launched a thin and light 5G model
at the end of 2019 and continued
to invest in this field. Starting in
April this year, Huawei has gained
more than 40% market share in
the thin and light smartphone
market in the second quarter with
its well-accepted nova 7 series and
P40 model occupying a dominant
position.
Figure 4
- 4-
With the gradual penetration of
5G, the continuous adoption of
higher screen refresh rate and
high sampling rate along with the
improvement of other functions,
the demand for higher battery
capacity arises. Meanwhile, most
customers rely on battery capacity
as the most straightforward
indicator to identify the battery life
when they buy smartphones. In
the one-year development of the
domestic 5G market, 95% of 5G
mobile phones adopt 4,000+ mAh
batteries.
Figure 5
- 5-
Since the battery is generally a
single component that occupies
the largest space inside a mobile
phone, the provision of a large-
capacity battery poses a greater
challenge to the design of thin
and light 5G mobile phones. Seen
from the new products that were
launched in the second quarter of
2020, the thin and light design with
large-capacity battery is adopted
by many vendors as a selling point
for their uniquely positioned 5G
products. Among them, OPPO
gained the leading position in the
thin and light design plus large-
capacity battery area by launching
the Reno 3 series, Reno 4 series,
A92s, and other product lines in
the second quarter. The nova 7
series and Honor 30 series from
Huawei are the absolute main
players in this market, and the vivo
S6 and X50 series also achieved
- 6-good market performance and
reputation in the second quarter.
Figure 6
Looking at the one-year
development of domestic 5G
mobile phone products, the initial
5G mobile phone products on the
market had to compromise on
weight due to various technical
reasons. However, with the rapid
development of technology, the
thickness of components such
as screens and under-display
fingerprint sensors has further
increased. With the continuous
optimization of the internal
structure and stacking by mobile
phone manufacturers, since
2020, the thin and light mobile
phones are gradually returning
to the mainstream in the rapidly
developing 5G market.
- 7-Wang Xi, IDC China Research
Manager believes that in recent
years, with the popularity of short
video applications, the length
of time that users need to hold
a mobile phone vertically with
one hand has increased rapidly.
Therefore, a thinner product with
a better grip is a more obvious
bonus for user experience. In the
future, "lightness and thinness"
will always be one of the important
factors that users will consider
when buying a device especially
when they are buying these
devices in offline counters.
Note: Huawei and Honor brands
have been shown separately in
some of the charts in this PR
in order to better illustrate the
data of different brands. This is
different from the usual IDC's
press releases which illustrate
the data based on the "Company"
that represents all the underlying
brands.
- END –
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- 8-quarterly, and monthly basis.
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(IDC) is the premier global
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telecommunications, and
consumer technology markets.
With more than 1,100 analysts
worldwide, IDC offers global,
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insight helps IT professionals,
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-# # # -
For enquiries, please contact:
Frank Wang
Associate Vice President, IDC
China
- 9-Phone: (+86-10) 5889 1588
Email: frankwang@idc.com
Maggie Xie
Sr. Marketing Executive, IDC
China
Phone: (+86-10) 5889 1558
Email: mxie@idc.com
For more information on IDC's
research and ICT market insights,
follow us on WeChat:
Figure 7
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- 10-For more information contact:
Maggie Xie
mxie@idc.com
+86-10-5889 1558
Frank Wang
fwang@idc.com
+86-10-5889 1588
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