Operators in South Korea and the USA have launched commercial 5G service this week. In Korea they launched with Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G smartphone and in the USA Verizon offered Motorola’s Z3 and the mot 5G mod, a snap-on accessory modem + battery that provides 5G access to an LTE phone.

There will be dozens of 5G smartphones available by the end of 2019.  This year will be all about learning for consumers about what 5G means, while for operators and device makers, it will be all about learning about what consumers want from 5G.

Strategy Analytics’ Device Technologies practice forecasts that less than 1% of all smartphones sold in 2019 will be 5G enabled; by 2023 1 in 5 will.