Disrupting the landscape, Samsung emerges as a global 5G infra leader (Analyst Angle)

Prakash Sangam
6 min readDec 16, 2021

As an eventful 2021, which witnessed 5G becoming mainstream despite all the challenges, comes to a close, the analyst part of my mind is reviewing and examining major disruptions in the cellular market brought by 5G. The rise of Samsung, mostly known for its flagship galaxy phones and shiny consumer electronics, as a global 5G infrastructure leader really dawned on me as a key one.

As a keen industry observer, I have been tracking Samsung Networks for a long time. A little more digging and research revealed how systematically it charted a path from its solid home base in Korea to its disruptive debut in the USA, followed by expanding its influence in Europe and other advanced markets. All the while building a comprehensive 5G technology and product portfolio.

In this article, I will try to follow its growth steps in the last two years and explore how it is well-positioned to lead in the upcoming 5G expansion.

Strong presence at home and early success in India built the Samsung foundation

Korean operators like Korea Telecom and SK Telecom have always been at the bleeding edge of cellular technology, even from 3G days. As their key supplier, Samsung’s technology prowess has been a significant enabler for these operators’ leadership, especially in 4G and 5G. That has also helped Samsung to be ahead of the curve.

Samsung’s first major international debut was in India in 2013, supporting Reliance Jio, a new cellular player that turned the Indian cellular and broadband market upside down. Samsung learned valuable lessons there about deploying very large-scale, expansive cellular networks.

The leadership at home combined with the experience in India provided Samsung a solid foundation for the next phase of its global expansion.

Disruptive debut in the USA that changed the infra landscape

U.S. cellular industry observers sulking about the lack of 5G infra vendor diversity were pleasantly surprised when Samsung won a large share of Verizon’s contract to build the world’s first 5G network. That was a major disruption…

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Prakash Sangam

Tech Industry Analyst, Forbes Contributor, EETimes & RCR Wireless writer, covering 5G, AI, IoT, Wi-Fi and everything wireless. Founder www.TantraAnalyst.com