By Chuck Martin
A new study found that 12% of smartphone users in the U.K., or about 6 million people, would switch to 5G as soon as it was available.
However, just 50,000 compatible handsets will be sold in 2019, according to the study by Deloitte.
The most popular media content consumers use on smartphones is news, with 36% reading on their mobile devices daily while 13% say that mobile service quality is good enough to enable them to use the internet at all times while commuting.
“The addressable market demand for upgrading to 5G is plain to see, with at least 15 million people ready to switch as soon as it’s available and working properly,” stated Paul Lee, head of research for technology, media and telecoms at Deloitte. “However, the adoption rate for 5G in the U.K. is likely to be slower than for 4G, largely as the U.K. may be amongst the first countries to see 5G launched across all operators.”
There will be about 1 million 5G smartphones sold globally in 2019, out of a total of 1.5 billion phones sold, according to Deloitte.
