The surge in 5G smartphone sales is fueling a data boom, leading startups to reconsider their IPO strategies. According to a report by Tech-Economic Times, the growth in 5G adoption has reshaped the market landscape, with 5G smartphones accounting for 90% of total shipments, driven by devices priced below Rs 10,000.
The report highlights that total smartphone shipments reached 151 million, increasing by 0.5% year-on-year, with 5G smartphone shipments hitting 137 million, marking a 14% YoY growth. This surge has expanded the 5G installed base to 415 million, projected to reach 750 million by 2028.
Moreover, data traffic from 5G networks nearly doubled in 2025, reaching 29,000 petabytes, up from 15,000 petabytes in 2024. This increase in data consumption is reflected in the per-user usage, which rose to 29.6 GB per month from 21.5 GB previously.
With Reliance Jio leading the telco trends in data consumption growth, startups are now reassessing their IPO plans due to the changing market dynamics influenced by the data surge driven by 5G smartphone sales.
Source: Tech-Economic Times