Premium pricing for top-line smartphones could be a barrier to the U.S. 5G upgrade, blogged NPD Monday. Just under 10 percent of consumers are spending over $1,000 on smartphones, and 5G phones are hitting the market at about $1,200. “Consumers are holding onto their smartphones for longer periods, which has presented a challenge for the smartphone market,” said analyst Brad Akyuz. “Manufacturers and carriers are expecting 5G to help reinvigorate the upgrade cycle, but pricing could present another hurdle.” Consumers in the top 10 U.S. markets account for 39 percent of $1,000-plus active smartphones, NPD said, with users in New York City and Los Angeles most likely to buy four-figure devices. Consumers in the top two markets are 29 percent of the U.S. population, over-indexing in $1,000-plus phones by 25 points. The two markets should be a primary target for carriers to advance 5G networks and for phone makers to educate consumers about the benefits of 5G, the research firm said. Awareness of 5G is high (see 1912040044) and purchase potential is strong, said NPD, with 73 percent of consumers aware of the technology at the end of first half 2019 vs. 44 percent a year earlier. In China, Xiaomi took an aggressive stance on 5G Tuesday. It unveiled a sub-2,000-yuan model under its Redmi brand (starting at $284). The 6.7-inch Redmi K30 5G, with four cameras, is based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765G gaming-centric 5G chipset.

The global smartphone market will stay on a downward trajectory in 2020, blogged Strategy Analytics Thursday. Shipments “under the worst case” will decline 3 percent from 2019 before rebounding in 2021, it said. The 2021 forecast assumes “the likelihood of global economic recession remains low,” the U.S. and China will sign a trade deal and that the U.S. will lift its trade restrictions on Huawei, it said. Samsung will remain 2020's market leader, followed by Huawei and Apple, it said. “We expect Huawei will see a big fall in overseas markets,” but a “resurgence” in China will help offset those declines, said SA: “Huawei will survive.”

Qualcomm will accelerate 5G adoption in mid-range smartphones with its modem-RF systems, ABI Research analyst Malik Saadi emailed Wednesday. Calling the Snapdragon 765 platform a “milestone,” Saadi said Qualcomm will have an edge on competitors MediaTek and Unisoc, which aren’t expected to hit the market before second half 2020. The X52 modem-RF system design is 100 percent based on Qualcomm’s chips, including modem, antenna and RF components, meaning OEM partners won’t have to go through complex RF procurement processes involving different RF chip suppliers. The system-level design approach adopted in Snapdragon X52 could help improve the overall connectivity performance of the platform and lower its power consumption compared with assembling various RF components from multiple vendors, Saadi said. Most competitors, including MediaTek, Unisoc, Hisilicon, Samsung and Apple, still lack key RF components, he said. Tuesday, Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon told the Snapdragon Tech Summit (see 1912030044) 2020 will be the year 5G reaches scale, with an expected 200 million subscribers globally. Qualcomm forecasts 2.8 billion 5G “connections” will be at play by 2025, he said. “It’s really going to be a much faster transition than what we have seen in prior generations of wireless.”

Qualcomm estimates 325 operators in 109 countries are "investing" in 5G, President Cristiano Amon told the Snapdragon Tech Summit Tuesday in Maui, Hawaii. Forty operators and 40 smartphone OEMs globally have launched 5G devices and services, he said. Qualcomm sees 2020 as the year in which “we’re really going to bring 5G to scale,” he said. “By the end of 2020, we expect to reach 200 million 5G subscribers.” Qualcomm forecasts 2.8 billion 5G “connections” globally will be at play by 2025, he said. “It’s really going to be a much faster transition than what we have seen in prior generations of wireless.”

Black Friday was the biggest day ever for mobile shopping, at $2.9 billion, Adobe reported. Some 39 percent of all e-commerce sales was via smartphones, up 21 percent, while 61 percent of all online traffic to retailers came from smartphones, up 16 percent. E-commerce companies with over $1 billion in annual revenue had an 11 percent higher smartphone revenue share and were 66 percent more efficient in conversions from traffic to sales than businesses under $50 million. The company's real-time shopping analytics service emailed Monday it forecasts November-December online sales of $143.8 billion vs. $126 billion last year. Black Friday set a new record of $7.4 billion online.

The Patent and Trademark Office granted Samsung’s request for its first six-month deadline extension to file the “statement of use” (SOU) forms required of the “Real 8K Resolution” logo trademark it applied for in August 2018, agency records show. The black-and-rose-colored logo got preliminary PTO approval in June after no opposition. Samsung is entitled to up to five six-month SOU deadline extensions but must file the forms by June 2022 or risk abandoning the trademark. The SOU is the final step before a trademark registration certificate can be issued. Samsung’s application predates by 14 months LG’s Oct. 21 filing to trademark a black-and-gold “Real 8K” logo.

Despite “some waning in consumer confidence,” Best Buy sees strong consumer sentiment, so smartphones and some other technology sales are expected to grow “a little more” in Q4, said Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas on a Tuesday Q3 call. Domestic online revenue grew 15 percent year on year, primarily on higher order value, he said. Q4 revenue of $14.75 billion-$15.15 billion assumes announced Dec. 15 tariffs take hold. The retailer is bringing in products before tariff implementation; making strategic decisions on vendors and products; making sourcing and pricing changes; and developing strategies with vendors. The most relevant tariffed categories for Best Buy for coming tariff products include smartwatches, smartphones and videogame consoles, the CFO said. Fulfillment options available to consumers have “completely changed the competitive landscape” for how quickly shoppers can get their items, CEO Corie Barry. The stock closed up 9.8 percent at $81.53.

China's Hisense, taking advantage of its tariff-immune manufacturing in Mexico, will sled into the holiday season mid-December with a pair of advanced Roku TVs, it announced Monday. The products will sell online only at Amazon and Walmart. “December is not the time retailers want to do a reset on their floor,” Chris Porter, director-product management, told us in New York. Sets will move into stores in Q1. Other TV brands have been asking the company to manufacture their product, said Jim Ninesling, head-marketing. The TVs' Hi-View chipset controls hardware and software and adds artificial intelligence to the user experience.

Sprint previewed holiday deals it’s planning for Monday, led by a freebie for the iPhone 11 for customers switching to the carrier and trading in an iPhone 6s or newer. Also free is an iPad 7 with 24-month contract, Sprint said. Switchers can get a Samsung Galaxy S10 free with a Flex contract. LG is rewarding G8X ThinQ buyers with a free 49-inch 4K smart TV if they buy a model with a dual screen for $15 monthly or the 5G version for $19 a month with a new line and 18-month contract. Customers who buy a Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 6 Bluetooth speaker for $199 get a $100 airline voucher.

Moving to 5G is “ramping faster than previous wireless generations,” Canaccord Genuity emailed Friday. It counts about 40 smartphone OEMs and 40 wireless operators “launching or announcing 5G products and commercial service.” 5G technologies likely create "compelling new business opportunities,” including virtual and augmented reality, autonomous driving, industrial IoT and smart cities, it told investors.