A Huawei store stands next to a Globe Telecom booth in Makati City, the Philippines on April 14, 2019. Photo: cnsphoto

Huawei is set to top the world's 5G smartphone output in 2020 as China actively pushes forward 5G commercialization and expands the 5G network coverage, according to a market forecast. 

It is estimated that the output of Huawei's 5G mobile phones this year will exceed 74 million, ranking first in the world, while other Chinese brands including Vivo, OPPO and Xiaomi will come next among the top six, according to a report issued by market analysis agency Trend Force on Wednesday.

Chinese cellphone brands have taken the lead in the global 5G market with a market share of 75 percent in the first quarter of 2020 due to their advanced deployment of 5G handsets, the report said.

In just the first quarter of 2020, Huawei sold more 5G handsets than it did in the whole of 2019.

The company sold 15 million 5G handsets in the first quarter, beating Samsung to rank first in the global 5G market with a market share of 40 percent, according to media reports. 

In 2019, Huawei's 5G smartphone business maintained steady growth, with total shipments exceeding 6.9 million units, according to a report released by the company in January.

The increase in the shipments was backed up by China's leading position in developing 5G networks and Huawei's increased investment in the domestic market, Ma Jihua, a veteran industry insider and close follower of Huawei, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Huawei has been shifting its smartphone business to China and developing the domestic market since the US crackdown. It has also taken the opportunity of the robust development of China's 5G market," Ma said.

China is on track to build more than 600,000 5G base stations by the end of the year, putting it far ahead of the rest of the world in deploying the next-generation communications standard, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

As the coronavirus ebbs in China, the construction of 5G base stations accelerated in April, May, and June, and at a greater speed than was expected, Ma said.

The commercialization of 5G services, the need for remote working and online learning during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the country's vigorous development of new infrastructure will further promote the construction of base stations, Ma predicted. 

"Looking at the whole year, the 5G base station construction will be completed ahead of the plan set at the beginning of the year," he said.

As of June, the number of 5G subscribers in China has exceeded 100 million, data from major Chinese mobile operators showed.

China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator in terms of subscribers, reached 70.19 million 5G subscribers and China Telecom reached 37.84 million 5G subscribers as of June. China Unicom has not yet announced the number of its 5G subscribers. 

The rise in the number of subscribers on 5G contracts will encourage more mobile users to switch to 5G mobile phones to use high-speed data, Ma predicted.