While companies like Apple and Google are in no rush to join the fledgling 5G smartphone market, Samsung has certainly hit the ground running, copiously dominating the global shipments of these high-speed handsets that are however not particularly useful for 99 percent of the world’s mobile consumers right now.

Speaking of the grand scheme, IHS expects 5G smartphone shipments to reach a grand total of 13.5 million units this year after a Q3 tally of 4.3 million. To put that number in context, the smartphone market as a whole topped 350 million units during 2019’s third quarter and 5G handset sales are forecasted to jump all the way up to 253 million in 2020. That means Samsung’s early lead, while undeniably important and impressive, could be rapidly weakened or even altogether eradicated within less than a year.