Samsung launched commercially its first 5G smartphone, the S10 5G, in South Korea in April, 2019. Recent local reports suggest its shipments finally topped 1 million in June. From zero to a million in under 3 months.

LG has also been getting in on the act. Sales of its recent V50 ThinQ 5G model have been robust at home this month.

Korean carriers, like SKT, have been promoting and subsidizing heavily these new 5G phones in Seoul and elsewhere. Early adopters like their high download speed and ability to watch rich video on the go. BTS pop music on the train never sounded so good.

This all chimes with our latest 5G smartphone shipments forecast. Cheaper 5G models, from Samsung and others, are just a few months away. We expect total global 5G volumes top a billion in just a few short years.

Clients of our EDT (Techs) service can view the full forecast here.