5G Newsletter: 5G Smartphone Shipment Accelerating

This is a 5G smartphone starting from USD230.  Source: NETEASE

We expect 5G smartphone demand to accelerate in 2H 2020 as economies around the world reopen and 5G network coverage becomes increasingly available. We are already seeing a meaningful increase in 5G smartphone shipments in China, for example, where over 45% of smartphone shipments in May are 5G enabled. 5G proliferation is expected to increase further as more affordable 5G smartphones (below US$250) as well as Apple’s 5G iPhone are launched later in the year. According to Morgan Stanley’s latest estimates, 5G smartphone shipment is forecast to reach 200m in 2020 and 450m in 2021, and 5G penetration to increase to 16% in 2020 and 35% in 2021.

Source: Morgan Stanley Research, June 7, 2020.

Source: QORVO

Qorvo is a market leader in RF semiconductors and is well-positioned to gain from RF content growth driven by the migration to 5G over the next few years.

In smartphone RF component businesses (70-75% of sales), QRVO is benefitting from market share gains and dollar content growth given its focus on mid/high-band RF modules based on BAW filter technologies, which is increasingly important in 5G.

In network infrastructure RF businesses (25-30% of sales), Qorvo benefits as a leading Gallium Nitride (GaN) RF chip supplier as 5G base-stations are increasingly adopting GaN RF for better performance reasons. GaN RF solutions provide lower power consumption, higher power density, 100x longer life and higher data throughput that base stations require.

We would like to hear from you any questions you may have on the 5G investment opportunities.

We look forward to sharing more.