The end-user market for 5G networks in China may not enter a stage with meaningful growth until after 2022, as telecom operators there are aiming to kick off commercial operations of their 5G networks in 2020 leveraging the expertise they gained from the participation in the setting of the TD-LTE standards and the commercialization of 4G networks, according to Digitimes Research.

As one of the member countries being organized to push for the standardization of 5G networks, China kicked off in 2015 a two-stage preparation work for the commercialization of its 5G networks and also began to test its 5G networks for multi-scenario applications in 2018.

Although China Mobile said earlier that it would support only standalone 5G networks, the company, together with China Telecom and China Unicom, announced unanimously during the MWC Shanghai 2018 that they would adopt both standalone and non-standalone 5G networks.

Given that the deployment of two 5G network standards at the same time will result in increased capital expenditure and procurement of terminal devices, and that the 4G market in China still have room for growth, Digitimes Research believes that the 5G market in China is unlikely to grow in scale until after 2022.