Operators are promoting 5G construction, but consumers are more fond of 4G, and the market is in a dilemma.
More than two years and eight months have passed since 5G was commercialized, and major operators are stepping up the construction of 5G networks, however, the reality is a slap in the face, domestic mobile phone market data shows that 5G mobile phone sales have declined for three consecutive months, while 4G mobile phone sales are growing rapidly.
According to the statistics of China Telecom Research Institute, from 202111 to January, the total sales of 5G mobile phones in China were 28.97 million units, 27.15 million units, and 26.32 million units, showing a downward trend year by year, so the proportion of 5G mobile phone sales in the domestic mobile phone market is also decreasing.
Although the sales of 5G mobile phones continue to decline, the sales of 4G mobile phones bucked the market, with 5.99 million 4G mobile phones sold in November 2021, 5.89 million 4G mobile phones sold in December, and increased to 6.42 million units in January, showing that 4G mobile phones are once again popular with users, and the Redmi 9 A, an ultra-low-priced 4G phone, once again occupies the top spot in the online sales rankings. Top 10.
According to a recent report released by market research company Cinno, in January, in addition to Honor Ovation, OPPO and vivo both saw a significant decline in sales, both of which fell by more than 10%, indicating that major manufacturers are not investing in 5G technology as well as they should.
China Mobile has recently accelerated the deployment of 700 MHz 5 G base stations, but 700 MHz 5 G base stations are limited to rural areas, while urban areas use high-frequency spectrum, resulting in no 5 GHz signal in all corners and a very poor user experience.
There are few popular applications in 5G, many users need 4G, the performance of 4G mobile phones is much better than that of 4G mobile phones, and the power of 5G mobile phones is too large, which affects the ability to receive signals, so many users will still turn off the 5G function when they buy 5 G.
Of course, 5 G** is still relatively expensive, with the three major operators starting at 120 G**, more than twice the average ARPU of their customers, and far exceeding the monthly communication cost, because the 5G plan makes many consumers reluctant to choose 5G**.
As customers have realized that the number of 4 G packages offered by carriers is decreasing, if they change to 5 G packages, they will not be able to go back to the original cheap 4 G packages.
This is mainly because people are focusing their attention on 5 G, which makes consumers now re-shift their attention to 4 G mobile phones, which promotes the sales of 4 G mobile phones, and at the same time, the price of 4 G mobile phones has become more reasonable, just like the popular 4 G mobile phone Redmi 9 A mentioned above, it is currently the cheapest 5 G phone, and the price is also above 400, so it is suitable for those who like to play 4 G, and will definitely buy a cost-effective 4 G mobile phone.
Therefore, the current situation is that although operators are vigorously advocating users to change to 5G**, the sales of 5G mobile phones are declining, and the sales of 4G mobile phones are picking up, which will definitely seriously affect the enthusiasm of operators to develop 5G, causing users to become more and more indifferent to 5G, and operators should also consider launching the most inexpensive 5G**.