5G to Grow to 69% of Global Handset Volume in 2025: IDC

The “supply-side push” of 5G devices will help propel global smartphone shipments to 13.9% year-over-year growth in Q1 and 5.5% for 2021, reported IDC Wednesday, forecasting a 3.6% compound annual growth rate for smartphones through 2025. IDC expects 5G-enabled handsets to be more than 40% of volume in 2021, and 69% share in 2025. “Strong performance" in Q4 "led to a huge push from all OEMs to increase production,” said IDC Senior Analyst Sangeetika Srivastava. “Although this may create some temporary challenges in production, we do not foresee any significant gap as the manufacturers successfully cope.”