14July 2020
It’s probably not premature to notice 5G-enabled smartphones haven’t exactly sold like hotcakes thus far. After all, the Galaxy S10 5G became commercially available in the US more than a year ago, and according to a market report from a couple of months back, global 5G smartphone shipments barely exceeded 24 million units during the first 90 days of 2020.
That brings us to quite possibly the real number one reason why consumers are not flocking to US carrier stores to buy 5G smartphones in the millions. Namely, prohibitive prices rather than limited network coverage or modest speed gains. Otherwise, how can you explain Verizon reportedly managed to cross the 100,000 5G unit-sales-a-week mark at the end of May, maintaining that relatively high bar through June, while the competition never surpassed the 40,000 weekly total?