According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, the US market sold under 2 million 5G-capable smartphones during 2019. This only represented 1% of overall smartphone sales in 2019.
Samsung captured 74% of the total sales during the year, followed by LG (15%) and OnePlus (11%). The Samsung Note 10 Plus 5G was the best-selling 5G smartphone in the US in 2019, ahead of the Galaxy S10 5G.
Last year, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile promoted the Galaxy Note 10 Plus 5G to gain more users on their 5G networks. The cost of the device was $1299.99. There were different financing and trade-in offers to get the monthly device cost down to $35 per month.
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The LG V50 was the only 5G capable phone for LG. For OnePlus, the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G was the top smartphone for the company, as the lower price point of $840 helped drive sales.
Further commenting on 2020 expectations, Klaehne added, “In 2020, we expect to see strong promotional offerings from carriers and OEMs for consumer 5G sales and for adoption to increase. Carriers want to get customers onto their 5G networks as it’s less expensive than 4G and will help with stickiness as 5G plans generally have unlimited data plans that include, for example, free streaming and gaming services.”
The newly launched Samsung Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, and S20 Ultra are all being offered with big monthly credit offers from carriers when a customer adds a new line or switches to a new 5G unlimited plan. There will be Galaxy Note 20, Note 20+, and Galaxy Fold 2 with 5G support.
Lastly, Fieldhack added, “While 5G penetration in 2019 was just 1% of total smartphone sales, we expect penetration to increase to around 25% in 2020.”
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