In 2021, shipments will reach 100 million Qualcomm, indicating that the first 5G mobile phone will be launched in 2019.

Recently, global analysis company CCS Insight released its latest global mobile phone shipment forecast report. According to CCS Insight's forecast, global mobile phone shipments will reach 2 billion units in 2017, up 2% from 2016. Global demand is expected to continue at this rate, resulting in a staggering 10 billion handset shipments over the next five years.

Smartphones will continue to account for most of the sales and are expected to reach 1.53 billion units in 2017. This number will increase to 1.9 billion units in 2021, when smartphones will account for 92% of the overall mobile phone market.

Marina Koytcheva, vice president of CCS Insight forecasting, pointed out that "mobile phones will remain the most active segment in the consumer electronics market. Although overall shipments will remain stable over the next five years, the share of smartphones will continue to grow and the technology landscape is rapidly growing. Change has occurred."

Marina Koytcheva, vice president of CCS Insight forecasting, pointed out that "mobile phones will remain the most active segment in the consumer electronics market. Although overall shipments will remain stable over the next five years, the share of smartphones will continue to grow and the technology landscape is rapidly growing. Change has occurred."

The report also predicts that 5G handsets will reach 100 million units in 2021, and developed markets in North America and Asia Pacific (such as Japan and South Korea) will take the lead.

Qualcomm now predicts that the world's first 5G handset will be available in 2019, and these 5G handsets will have one feature: an uninterrupted connection to the 4G LTE network. "We are working hard to promote the first 5G NR smartphones to be available in mid-2019," said Sherif Hanna, senior manager of Qualcomm Snapdragon modem technology marketing, in an interview with Light Reading. The NR here refers to the 5GPP New Radio specification standard of 3GPP.

Qualcomm launched its first 5G modem, the X50, in October 2016. The chip is expected to begin sampling to mobile phone manufacturers in the second half of 2017, and equipment testing will begin in 2018.

The report shows that 4G LTE technology has made strong progress in mobile phone shipments in the past few years. According to CCS Insight's records, the world's first LTE handsets were shipped in 2011, when these handsets only accounted for 0.2% of the overall market. According to CCS Insight's forecast, LTE handsets will account for 68% of total handset market shipments in 2017 and 84% by 2020.

Koytcheva added: "4G technology is not limited to smartphones. The recent launch of low-cost 4G chips for feature phones will enable more and more cheap phones to have 4G capabilities. This will give high growth opportunities for India in the next few years. The market is especially important."

The report also predicts that 5G handsets will reach 100 million units in 2021, and developed markets in North America and Asia Pacific (such as Japan and South Korea) will take the lead.