China's 5G application development has achieved phased results, and currently 5G is evolving towards 5G-A upgrade. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments recently jointly released the "5G Scale Application 'Sail' Action Upgrade Plan", which repeatedly mentioned 5G-A and clearly stated the need to focus on promoting the research and development of key technologies for 5G-A and 5G millimeter wave, as well as the maturity of the industrial chain. Several listed companies have announced their plans to develop cutting-edge 5G technologies. Analysts believe that with the increase in future applications and the construction of "moderately advanced" networks, the upstream and downstream market space for related core components is expected to be released. By 2027, the large-scale application of 5G will be fully realized. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of September 2024, the total number of 5G base stations in China has reached 4.089 million, achieving "5G connectivity in every village" and building the world's largest and technologically advanced basic network. Application empowerment is gradually emerging, and 5G has been integrated into 80 out of 97 major categories of the national economy, with a total of over 100000 application cases, achieving scale replication in industries such as industry, mining, power, ports, and healthcare. At present, there are over 100 5G fusion application standards, and more than 700 5G industry terminal products such as 5G industrial gateways, CPEs, and inspection robots entering the network. At present, the development of 5G applications in China is in a critical window period of shifting from technology driven to value driven, and from policy driven to market driven. It is necessary to strengthen guidance and consolidate existing development achievements. Recently, 12 departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the "5G Scale Application 'Sail' Action Upgrade Plan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), which proposes that by the end of 2027, the number of 5G base stations per 10000 people will reach 38, the penetration rate of 5G personal users will exceed 85%, the proportion of 5G network access traffic will exceed 75%, and the number of 5G IoT terminal connections will exceed 100 million, forming a development pattern of "universal capacity, universal application, and empowering universal", and fully realizing the scale application of 5G. Ma Jihua, founder of Darui Consulting, said that 5G has been fully developed in the triangle of terminals, networks and applications, but not in the application area. The focus of this policy is on developing 5G applications, and compared to the "5G Application 'Sail' Action Plan (2021-2023)", promoting 5G applications on the consumer side is placed in a more important position. Institutions believe that under the catalysis of increased future applications and the construction of "moderately advanced" networks, upstream core components such as antennas, filters, high-order PCBs, and optical modules are expected to benefit. The market space related to RedCap modules, low altitude sensing integration, XR and other fields is also expected to be released. The orderly upgrade of 5G network to 5G-A is currently underway, and 5G is evolving towards 5G-A. In this plan, 5G-A is mentioned multiple times, and it is explicitly stated that in order to promote the evolution and upgrading of the 5G technology industry, the focus will be on promoting the research and development of key technologies for 5G-A and 5G millimeter wave, as well as the maturity of the industry chain. At the same time, in response to the public's demand for high-quality network services, we will accelerate the extension of 5G to remote areas, deepen high-quality coverage of key scenarios, accelerate the continuous coverage of 5G Reduced Capability in county-level and above cities, and orderly promote the upgrading and evolution of 5G networks to 5G-A. 5G-A (5G Advanced) can be considered as an evolution and enhancement of 5G. Experts suggest that 5G-A is expected to increase its uplink and downlink peaks by 10 times compared to existing 5G networks, improve connection density by 10 times, enhance positioning accuracy by 10 times, and improve energy efficiency by 10 times. The industry believes that 2024 is the first year of commercial use of 5G-A in China, and currently over 300 cities in China have launched 5G-A network deployments. Han Lin, Deputy Director Analyst of the Strategic Development Research Institute of China Telecom Research Institute, stated that from 5G to 5G-A, and then to the future 6G, network capabilities will significantly improve in terms of transmission speed, latency, and reliability. In particular, 5G-A will bring revolutionary changes to industrial Internet, telemedicine and other applications. The reporter found that several listed companies have announced their plans to develop cutting-edge 5G technologies, including 5G-A, 5G private networks, and 6G. Alede stated that they have obtained a 5G millimeter wave antenna cover patent and are closely monitoring the development of 5G-A and 6G; Guangha Communication claims to have achieved partial functionality of 5G R17 and is actively promoting innovative feature development in the 5G-A (R18) phase; Core products such as 5G DAS, 5G private network, and ORAN for 3D communication have been introduced to the market; Ruisconda participated in the formulation of relevant standards for 5G-A. The three major telecommunications operators have also deployed 5G-A networks nationwide. According to publicly available data, China Mobile has over 330 5G-A commercial cities; China Telecom released the 5G-A Action Plan in June this year, focusing on deepening practical exploration at three levels: capability building, ecological cooperation, and application implementation. It will build eight core 5G-A capabilities. Currently, China Telecom has released 5G-A packages in Shanghai and Shenzhen, Guangdong; China Unicom has built a 5G-A pilot network with continuous airspace coverage in Foshan, Guangdong Province, and Guangzhou Unicom has completed the deployment of the 5G-A low altitude sensing test network for the Nansha Mingzhu Bay three-dimensional transportation system. 5G RedCap technology, also known as 5G lightweighting, can achieve the goals of reducing costs, power consumption, and miniaturization. Huajin Securities recently released a research report stating that the commercial use of 5G RedCap will further stimulate the overall demand of the IoT market from both the cost and demand sides. Due to the fact that 5G RedCap is a "tailored version", it has a higher cost-effectiveness compared to traditional 5G modules. Its typical application scenarios include video surveillance, in car applications, power Internet of Things, wearable devices, etc. With the decrease in module prices, it will further drive demand growth. In addition, the Plan proposes to continue promoting the research and development of 5G based intelligent robots, intelligent mobile terminals, cloud devices, and other applications, and encouraging the innovative development of XR business systems, naked eye 3D, smart wearables, smart homes, and other products that integrate 5G. Green Precision recently stated that the large-scale application of 5G will bring new opportunities for the company in the field of precision structural components for smart terminals, especially in business segments such as smart homes, smartphones, and smart wearable devices. At present, the prosperity of the consumer electronics industry has rebounded, and it is believed that with the rapid development of AI technology, the consumption prosperity of smart terminals will continue to improve. (New Society)