Japan, One Year Behind Korea, Commercializes 5G from the 25th... A Battlefield for Smartphones

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Japan's mobile telecommunications industry has officially entered the 5G competition phase by launching 5G services from the 25th, about a year later than South Korea. The top operator NTT Docomo set the service launch date two days earlier than the date announced by competitor SoftBank, signaling its intention to dominate the 5G market. Especially since Apple, which dominates the Japanese smartphone market, has not yet released a 5G smartphone, competition among smartphone manufacturers is expected to intensify.

According to local media such as Jiji Press and related industries on the 19th, NTT Docomo announced the day before that it will start 5G mobile communication services in Japan from the 25th. As of the end of March, NTT Docomo's 5G service will support a maximum transmission speed of 3.4Gbps in 150 areas nationwide. From June this year, the service will expand to all prefectures, and a high-frequency band called millimeter wave will be added.

NTT Docomo launched 5G-specific plans, 5G Gigaho and 5G Gigalight, and started pre-orders from the day before. A total of seven 5G-supported smartphones were unveiled. Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S20 series, LG Electronics' V60 ThinQ 5G, Sony Xperia 1 II, Sharp AQUOS R5G, and arrows 5G F-51A will be sequentially released from the 25th.

SoftBank will also start 5G services from the 27th of the same month. Although supported models have not been disclosed, they are expected to be almost identical. Initially, when SoftBank officially announced specific 5G service details on the 5th, the first in Japan's telecom industry, there were expectations that SoftBank would be the fastest to commercialize 5G.

However, with NTT Docomo deciding to launch 5G services two days earlier, the industry's jockeying for 5G market dominance has become clearly visible. KDDI (au) and Rakuten are also expected to join before June, so competition among telecom companies for 5G ahead of the Tokyo Olympics is expected to intensify further. NTT Docomo, which is the first to commercialize, has declared that it will achieve 20 million 5G subscribers by 2023.

Intense competition among smartphone manufacturers is also anticipated. Following South Korea, the United States, and China, which led the 5G market last year, Japan is gaining attention as a new market. Especially since Apple, which leads the Japanese market, has not yet released a 5G model, manufacturers aiming to capture the market are drawing attention. For Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which previously released 5G smartphones, this is an opportunity to expand market share by targeting the gap left by Apple's absence.

Samsung Electronics, which unveiled the new flagship Galaxy S20 series at last month's Unpacked event, has been preparing for a local launch timed with the start of Japan's 5G service. This is Samsung Electronics' first time introducing a 5G model in Japan. LG Electronics will also release the 5G model of the V60 ThinQ in the Japanese market next month.

Chinese companies, leveraging price competitiveness, are also expected to flood the Japanese market with mid-to-low-end 5G smartphones this year. Chinese ZTE plans to launch the Axon 10 Pro 5G in the Chinese market next week, followed by a global release including Japan. OPPO and Huawei have also decided to release mid-to-low-end models such as the Reno3. Sharp Japan unveiled its first 5G smartphone last month ahead of 5G commercialization.

Apple's 5G smartphone was initially expected to be released in the second half of the year, but there is a possibility of further delay due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that has swept the world recently. According to Japan's market research firm Multimedia Research Institute (MMRI), Apple's market share (based on shipments) in the Japanese smartphone market last year reached 47.4%. It was followed by Sharp (13%) and Samsung Electronics (9.1%).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.