2 Discussion and 2 Research Paper

6 EVALUATION ENGINEERING APRIL 2019

GSMA—an association representing the worldwide mobile com- munications industry—has released a report that states 5G is on track to account for 15% of total global mobile connection by 2025 as the number of 5G network launches and compat- ible devices ramps up this year. GSMA said a further 16 major markets worldwide will switch on commercial 5G networks during 2019, following the initial 5G launches in the U.S. and South Korea last year. GSMA calculates that mobile operators worldwide are currently investing about $160 billion per year on expanding and upgrading their networks, despite regulatory and competitive pressures.

Some other key report findings: • The number of 5G connections will reach 1.4 billion by

2025—15% of the global total. By this point, 5G is forecast to account for around 30% of connections in markets such as China and Europe, and around half of the total in the U.S.

• 4G will continue to see strong growth over this period, ac- counting for almost 60% of global connections by 2025—up from 42% last year.

• The number of global IoT connections will triple to 25 bil- lion by 2025, while global IoT revenue will quadruple to $1.1 trillion.

• 1 billion new unique mobile subscribers have been added in the four years since 2013, bringing the total to 5.1 billion by the end of 2018, representing about two-thirds of the global population.

• An additional 1.4 billion people will start using the mo- bile internet over the next seven years, bringing the total number globally to 5 billion by 2025 (more than 60% of the population).

North American robot shipments up 7% in 2018 to new record The Robotic Industr y A s- sociation (RIA), part of the Association for Advancing Automation, has reported that robots shipped to North American companies in re- cord numbers in 2018.

R I A’s 2 018 robot sh ip - ment statistics report said that 35,880 robot units were shipped to North America last year, which was up 7% from 2017. Of those, 16,702 ship- ments were to nonautomotive companies—a 41% increase. Other notable growth came from areas of food and con- sumer goods (+48%), plastics and rubber (+37%), life sci- ences (+31%), and electronics (+22%).

Shipments to North Ameri- can automotive OEM and tier supplier customers totaled 19,178 in 2018, which was 12% lower than in 2017. While auto- motive still accounted for 53% of total North America robot shipments last year, that fig- ure is its lowest percentage since 2010.

“ W h i le t he automot ive industry has always led the way in implementing robotics here in North America, we are quite pleased to see other in- dustries continuing to realize the benefits of automation,” said Jef f Burnstein, presi- dent of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) .“ And as we’ve heard from our members and at shows such as Automate, these sales and shipments aren’t just to large, mu lt i nat iona l compa n ies anymore. Small and medi- um-sized companies are us- ing robots to solve real-world challenges, which is helping them be more competitive on a global scale.”

IPC supports passage of U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement I P C h a s joi ne d t he ne w USMCA Coalition, launched Feb. 26 in Washington by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The coalition is comprised by more than 200 companies of diverse economic sectors, and advocates for the con- g ressiona l approva l of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“Building a stronger U.S. electronics industry depends in no small measure on building a stronger North American sup- ply chain,” said IPC President and CEO John Mitchell. “Our association has members with moth headquarters and thou- sands of jobs in the U.S., Mexico and Canada, and thus we have a strong interest in securing enactment of this agreement. The USMCA promises to spur even greater integration among the North American economies and strengthen the region’s stature as a formidable global manufacturing base.”

SEMI launches SEMI Works, nurturing industry talent SEMI announced on Feb. 25 that it had launched SEMI Works—a program to attract, develop, and retain talent es- sential to the global electron- ics industr y’s g row th a nd education.

“SEMI has made workforce development and talent advo- cacy a top priority and dedi- cated signif icant resources and expertise to tackle the is- sue,” said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO. “As the global industr y association anchoring the $2 trillion glob- al electronics industr y and representing the end-to-end semiconductor supply chain,

Study: 5G to account for 15% of global mobile industry by 2025

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