The US market shows 5G smartphone sales in over 10 cities in May despite Verizon only launching 5G services in Chicago and Minneapolis, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s US Smartphone Sales by City Tracker.

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While Chicago did show the highest concentration of sales, it represented just over 5% of total 5G smartphone devices according to data collected across millions of sales data points during May.

Speaking about the initial 5G expansion in the US, Tom Kang, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, said, “Verizon started the nation’s first 5G service and also the world’s first 5G service with millimeter wave. In April, the service was launched in just two cities, Chicago and Minneapolis. Verizon continues to add cities slowly. Denver joined on June 27th and Rhode Island on July 1st.”

Kang continued, “The top 10 cities make up just one-third of all 5G smartphone sales in May. This indicates how widespread initial 5G smartphone sales have been, despite early predictions that sales will concentrate in cities with 5G service. Consumers are buying 5G capable devices across the country despite not having a 5G network available in most cases. Minneapolis, one of the two launch cities is not even in the top 10 list. Instead, we see cities like Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles in the top five cities list for 5G mobile phone sales.”

Maurice Klaehne, Research Analyst, further commented, “In our newest US consumer survey, we see that many consumers are forward-looking when it comes to 5G smartphone purchases. Over 85% of consumers have some awareness of 5G and are planning their next smartphone purchase with 5G network capabilities in mind. In other words, consumers are future proofing themselves with the purchase of a 5G device.”

Counterpoint Research predicts that 5G smartphone sales will see a significant increase in the US once all carriers and smartphone brands are ready with their offerings. Counterpoint Research forecast for the US market for 5G smartphones is more than five million units in 2019.