The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) today reported that the number of announced 5G devices has broken the 250 barrier, spurred by a surge in 5G phone announcements. In January 2020, the number of announced 5G devices exceeded 200 for the first time; by early March^[1] over 250 devices had been announced with GSA identifying 253 announced devices, of which at least 67 are commercially available today.

‘‘We are at a fascinating turning point in the industry where the whole ecosystem is embracing, pushing and delivering new 5G spectrum, networks and devices,” commented Joe Barrett, President of GSA. ‘‘The rate at which new 5G devices are being announced and the diversity of form factors points to continued rapid deployment and uptake of new 5G services. Based on vendors’ statements, we can expect more than 50 additional announced devices to become commercially available before the end of June 2020, and at GSA we’ll will be tracking and reporting regularly on these 5G device launch announcements for the industry as we continue to take the temperature of the 5G ecosystem.”

As more devices become commercially available, GSA is tracking vendor data on spectrum support. The latest market data reveals that just over two-thirds (68.0%) of all announced 5G devices are identified as supporting sub-6 GHz spectrum bands and just under one-third (30.8%) are understood to support mmWave spectrum. Just under 25% of all announced devices are known to support both mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum bands. The bands known to be most supported by announced 5G devices are n78, n41, n79 and n77.

Part of the GSA Analyser for Mobile Broadband Devices (GAMBoD) database, the GSA’s 5G device tracking reports global device launches across the 5G ecosystem and contains key details about device form factors, features and support for spectrum bands. Access to the GAMBoD database is only available to GSA Members and to GSA Associates subscribing to the service.

The March 2020 5G Ecosystem Report containing summary statistics can be downloaded for free from GSA’s website:

https://gsacom.com/paper/5g-devices-ecosystem-executive-summary-march-2020/?utm=devicereports5g

By mid-March 2020, GSA had identified:

• 16 announced form factors
• 81 vendors that had announced available or forthcoming 5G devices
• 253 announced devices (including regional variants, and phones that can be upgraded using a separate adapter, but excluding prototypes not expected to be commercialised and operator-branded devices that are essentially rebadged versions of other phones), including at least 67 that are commercially available:

o       87 phones, (up 25 from end January), at least 40 of which are now commercially available (up from 35 at end January). Includes three phones that are upgraded to offer 5G using an adapter.

o       76 CPE devices (indoor and outdoor, including two Verizon-spec compliant devices not meeting 3GPP 5G standards), at least 13 of which are now believed to be commercially available

o       43 modules

o       17 hotspots (including regional variants), at least nine of which are now commercially available

o       5 laptops (notebooks)

o       5 industrial grade CPE/routers/gateways

o       3 robots

o       3 televisions

o       3 tablets

o       3 USB terminals/dongles/modems

o       2 snap-on dongles/adapters

o       2 drones

o       2 head-mounted displays

o       1 switch

o       1 vending machine.

GAMBoD is a unique search and analysis tool that has been developed by GSA to enable searches of mobile broadband devices and new global data on Mobile Broadband Networks, Technologies and Spectrum (NTS). The 5G devices database contains details about device form factors, features, and support for spectrum bands. Results are presented as a list or in charts. Charts may be inserted into documents or presentations, subject to accreditation of GSA as the source.

GAMBoD is a resource dedicated to promoting the success and growth of the Mobile Broadband (MBB) industry and ecosystem and is fully available to all employees of GSA Executive and Ordinary Member companies and GSA Associates who subscribe to the service.

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Availability of information about spectrum support is improving as a greater number become commercially available.

• Just over two-thirds (68.0%) of all announced 5G devices are identified as supporting sub-6 GHz spectrum bands and just under one third (30.8%) are understood to support mmWave spectrum. Just under 25% of all announced devices are known to support both mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum bands.
• Only 17 of the commercially available devices (25.4% of them) are known to support services operating in mmWave spectrum.
• 83.6% of the commercially available devices are known to support sub-6 GHz spectrum.

The bands known to be most supported by announced 5G devices are n78, n41, n79 and n77. We can expect the device ecosystem to continue to grow quickly and for more data to become available about announced devices as they reach the market. Based on vendors’ statements, we can expect more than 50 additional announced devices to become commercially available before the end of June 2020. GSA will be tracking and reporting regularly on these 5G device launch announcements. Its GAMBoD database contains key details about device form factors, features and support for spectrum bands. Summary statistics are released in this regular monthly publication.

About GSA
GSA is the voice of the mobile vendor ecosystem representing companies engaged in the supply of infrastructure, semiconductors, test equipment, devices, applications and mobile support services. GSA actively promotes the 3GPP technology road-map – 3G, 4G, 5G – and is a single source of information resource for industry reports and market intelligence. The GSA Executive board comprises of Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm, and Samsung.

GSA Membership is open to all companies participating in the mobile ecosystem and operators, companies and government bodies can get access to GAMBoD by subscribing as an Associate.  More details can be found at https://gsacom.com/gsa-membership

https://gsacom.com/technology/5g/