Hey.

It is no secret that people in Russia adore new technologies, strive to get something that others do not have yet. Reading the operators’ press releases, you constantly come across a discussion that sales of 5G smartphones are growing, but if you remember that such networks have not yet been launched, there is a feeling of confusion. It’s like people buy 5G smartphones, not realizing that the technology itself is absent on the operators’ networks and they will not be able to use it, at least here and now. It is interesting that exactly the same story is repeating itself that happened during the advent of 4G networks, but the scale is different, today it is wider and more noticeable. Let’s try to understand the issue of 5G smartphones and at the same time illustrate what is happening with eSIM, since both topics are relevant in the aspect of our discussion.

Not so long ago, “Beeline” disclosed data on sales of smartphones with 5G support. So, according to the operator, these smartphones appeared in the assortment at the beginning of the 4th quarter, but the main sales peak occurred in December: 60% of 2020G smartphones sold in 5 were purchased in the last month of the year. Moreover, every second 5G smartphone was purchased from the Beeline online store.

The operator notes the same growth in devices with eSIM support. According to the operator, sales of smartphones with eSIM support grew 3,8 times compared to December last year, and for the entire 2020, sales of these devices grew 3 times compared to 2019. At the same time, the greatest growth is seen in the online store: in the last month of 2020, online sales increased 6,5 times, and in the 4th quarter they increased 12 times compared to last year. The operator explains this by the development of the online channel, the increase in the number of models, as well as the expansion of the geography of the eSIM pilot.

MTS and MegaFon say exactly the same thing: the penetration of 5G smartphones is growing, the popularity of eSIM is increasing, that is, this is not the story of one Beeline, but a general market trend. Let’s unravel the trick with the simplest, which is support for 5G technology. In the absence of 5G networks in Russia, no one comes to the store and does not require such a smartphone, and this functionality itself is disabled in the firmware of smartphones, it will not be possible to use it in Russia. Another thing is that the flagships of different companies already have 5G inside by default, in contrast to 2019, when they were released in two versions. As a rule, today they go in one, and there is the same 5G. It turns out that by buying a smartphone from the iPhone 12 line or the latest Galaxy S21, whether you want to or not, you will get 5G support at the device level. And here there is no question of how much you need or don’t need this support, it is simply included in the price of the smartphone, there is no way to refuse it – this is already part of the product.

Someone may consider the presence of 5G useless, someone, on the contrary, will say that for a flagship with a life span of 3-4 years this is good, since it will not be necessary to buy another smartphone for the sake of a new generation of communication. But let’s take a look at the history of eSIM, as it perfectly illustrates how technology penetrates the mass market and what it takes.

The first smartphones with support for eSIM technology appeared a couple of years ago, and Apple integrated this technology into its devices en masse. Very quickly eSIM was mastered by small “operators”, companies offering tourist SIM-cards. It turned out that it is easy and convenient to release an application for a smartphone with eSIM support and a choice of tariffs. In Russia, operators did not officially support eSIM, but we started using such software SIM-cards when traveling, we realized how convenient it is.

Just like with 5G today, at that time no one was looking specifically for eSIM support in smartphones, they bought those models that they liked, they were suitable in terms of characteristics. Often, smartphones had eSIM support, but this did not matter at the time of purchase. But as soon as Russian operators added eSIM support, the technology became in demand. Many wanted to try what it is and went to stores to get their eSIM card. In addition, you can issue such a card directly in the operator’s application, which many have used. Conveniently? Not that word.

Now imagine for a moment the situation that operators had eSIM technology, but there were no supporting devices on the market. Where could you put your eSIM card? In fact, nowhere. The popularity of eSIM in the Russian market is directly related to the high penetration of devices that have eSIM support. And then there is a reaction that supports itself – the popularity of eSIM is growing, people are starting to choose smartphones that support this technology. As a result, manufacturers are adding eSIMs to more models as it is a buyer’s demand and they want to see it. In 2020, the number of smartphones with eSIM support in Beeline sales has tripled, other operators report similar statistics. Moreover, in December, the growth is already almost fourfold, we see that there is an acceleration. And gradually eSIM will penetrate the models of the lower price segments, development always goes from top to bottom. We saw something similar on the example of NFC, at first only expensive devices could boast of this technology, then it came to the middle segment, and today it is even in budget smartphones. But the way down takes more than one year, something similar will happen with both eSIM and 5G. Take a look around, today even the most inexpensive smartphones support 4G networks, and this is considered the norm. The reason is that there is demand, and operators are actively developing such networks.

Let’s talk about 5G and when such networks may appear in Russia. One of the parameters of readiness to launch 5G is the number of smartphones with a 5G modem, which are already in the hands of people. For operators, the economics of launching 5G in the event of high penetration of 5G smartphones becomes much more fun, as potentially more people will choose a tariff with a high access speed. Exactly the same thing we saw for 4G, but then the penetration of devices was much less and the development proceeded in steps, step by step. With 5G, we have a real opportunity to wake up one day and immediately get such networks, and at the same time thousands of people who connected to them on the very first day of their work. And in this aspect, the current sales of 5G smartphones work for the future, they are not at all useless. This explains why all operators are so actively discussing how well 5G smartphones are sold in their retail chains, for them this is an important parameter that brings the launch of 5G in Russia closer. What about eSIM? Yes, exactly the same thing, I think that for 5G networks there will be no need to go to the operator’s office to replace the card, you will be offered to receive an eSIM remotely, quickly and in a matter of seconds. Therefore, when you see that operators report on the sale of devices with 5G and eSIM, you need to keep in mind that this is the very future to which they are quickly moving. Assessing the development by eye, I will say that the history of 5G is developing in Russia differently, not like with 4G. We broke into 4G along with other advanced countries, and then gradually the number of users grew, people bought smartphones with 4G, and the numbers grew slowly for the first few years. The investments in the network were huge, and the money returned slowly. The 5G economy is even more complicated, so from the first days of operation of such networks, they need to have a sufficient number of subscribers, and this, in turn, means that there should be a lot of 5G smartphones on the market, and not just lying on store shelves. They really should be in the hands of people. And this scenario is being realized today before our eyes. If you look at the sales figures for 5G smartphones, then everything is very good and the appearance of 5G in Russia is closer than we could have previously assumed.

Are you waiting for 5G? Look at a smartphone with the support of this technology, so as not to change it later when such networks appear?

Related Links

Share: 

we are in social networks:

Anything to add ?! Write … eldar@mobile-review.com