New GSMA Intelligence Research Reveals Consumer Views on 5G and the Future of Devices

The smartphone is now a nearly ubiquitous consumer technology; almost 90 percent of consumers in developed countries own a smartphone, with an average of 2.5 smartphones in every U.S. households, according to latest Consumer Survey from GSMA Intelligence.

“We are at the start of a new era of consumer devices that is being driven by advances in immersive reality and AI, creating a strong consumer appetite for products such as smart speakers and an important new battleground for the major tech players,” said Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence. “And while smartphones remain the dominant consumer technology, device vendors and operators are looking to 5G to unlock a new chapter in the smartphone growth story – even though our research suggests there is still work to do to convince consumers of the benefits of the move to 5G.”

GSMA Intelligence’s annual Consumer Survey covers 36,000 respondents across 34 key markets, using a blend of online and face-to-face sampling methodologies.

Other key findings from the report include:

The smartphone is now a nearly ubiquitous consumer technology; almost 90 percent of consumers in developed countries own a smartphone, with an average of 2.5 smartphones in every US household.

Alongside the smartphone, the range of connected devices (and therefore internet access channels) is now greater than ever. The average US and UK household, for example, now owns six connected devices – from TVs to consoles to emerging categories such as smart speakers.

Smart speaker ownership rates have nearly doubled in developed countries over the last 12 months. For example, 16 percent of US households now own a smart speaker, compared to 9 percent a year earlier. Amazon and Google continue to dominate this sector, together accounting for 85 percent of sales units worldwide.

Despite the early hype, adoption rates of VR headsets in developed markets have remained flat year-on-year at around 6 percent of households and have even dropped in some key markets such as the UK. AR applications in fashion, gaming and various enterprise sectors are more advanced at this stage.

More than half of consumers in developed countries (54 percent) expect 5G networks to deliver faster speeds, suggesting that early 5G promotional activity will focus on network speed as a key differentiator (versus 4G) – but it is not clear if consumers will pay a premium for faster speeds.

Only one in four consumers (25 percent) expect 5G to deliver ‘innovative new services’, and only 20 percent believe 5G will usher in a new era of devices.

(For more information visit www.gsma.com.)