Gartner Sees 5G Smartphones Taking 35% Share of 2021 Handset Market

Global smartphone sales to end users will reach 1.5 billion handsets this year, an 11.4% increase from 2020, reported Gartner Wednesday. “The combination of delayed smartphone replacements and the availability of lower end 5G smartphones are poised to increase smartphone sales in 2021,” said Gartner. It expects 2021 smartphone sales to be close to those of 2019, after sales declined 10.5% in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19 on the industry, it said. Gartner forecasts sales of 5G smartphones will total 538.53 million units in 2021, for a 35% share of the market, it said. It estimates 213.26 million 5G smartphones were sold in 2020, for a 15.5% market share.