Global research group Omdia has released a report on the impact 5G technology will have on strategies, technologies, companies and market trends. The research paper covers areas including sports, autonomous vehicles, gaming, wireless components, the Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).
“The paper demonstrates our commitment to delivering truly integrated thinking and a new interdisciplinary approach to market intelligence, which allows our customers to uncover fresh perspectives and gain a competitive advantage,” Omdia president Mike Phillips said.
The report highlights a major strategic shift for communications service providers (CSPs) and those involved in the technology, media and telecommunications ecosystem, resulting from the wider adoption of 5G.
Key insights include:
5G will take the consumer market by storm
With 5G-enabled smartphone shipments expected to grow eight times by 2021, with 231 million units shipping this year, up from 29 million in 2019 that will double again in 2021. This growth will be driven by declining device costs, which will reach the more affordable $700-$800 range in the next two years.
Brands will use 5G to alleviate privacy fears around AI
This will push revenue growth to $827 billion in 2025 for edge devices and networks deployed for AI. By 2025, two of three smartphones will include built-in AI capabilities. To alleviate consumers’ privacy concerns, smartphone and smart speaker manufacturers will introduce 5G products which perform visual AI processing tasks on edge servers and appliances, bypassing the privacy risks involved in sending data to the cloud.
5G will drive rapid growth of game streaming and eSports
The media bundled-service revenue market is expected to grow to $2.6 billion by 2024. Omdia believes CSPs and rights holders will be collaborating to offer bundled services combining 5G and live sports events, a market predicted to increase to $2.6 billion in 2024.
Global 5G enterprise mobile subscriptions set to rise
These mobile subscriptions are expected to reach 175 million by 2024, up from 500,000 in 2019, with a wide range of industries already investing in private 5G networks. Approximately 40% of the announced deployments of enterprise 5G networks since 2016 are for manufacturing, followed by 18% of deployments in transportation and logistics.
The global 5G radio access market (RAM) to more than quintuple
This will see the RAM rise to $21 billion in 2024, up from less than $4 billion in 2019. The proliferation of 5G RANs is a critical element in the establishment of an end-to-end architecture for 5G that will enable the delivery of advanced services for diverse markets including factory automation and self-driving cars.