5G Awareness High Among Unlocked Smartphone Owners, Says NPD

U.S. unlocked smartphone owners grew to 50.1 million active users at the end of Q1, up 8% from the same 2019 quarter, reported NPD Thursday. “Unlocked smartphone users, who generally tend to be more tech-savvy than average smartphone users, unsurprisingly over-indexed in their awareness of the 5G technology.” NPD canvassed 1,500 unlocked smartphone adults in May, and found 42% said they would be very or extremely interested in buying a 5G smartphone, compared with only 31% of locked phone owners.