5G smartphones are expected to capture 50 percent of the global market by 2023 as countries step up efforts on 5G technology development, according to a new report.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the economic slowdown and the lack of consumer demand, 5G still remains a priority for most of smartphone manufacturers, the report from a market research firm IDC said.

"While many of the top vendors have reduced their 2020 production plans to align with the market decline, we've seen most of the cuts focused on their 4G portfolios," said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

Data shows the global smartphone market is forecast to decline by 9.5 percent year on year in 2020, with shipments totaling 1.2 billion units, and it will only see a full recovery by 2022.

Recovery in Chinese smartphone market

IDC Quarterly report shows 87.8 million smartphones were shipped in China during the second quarter of 2020.

"China was slowly recovering in the second quarter while other regions were fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. This in turn allowed the Chinese vendors to expand their 5G product portfolio in their home market," says Will Wong, research manager for Client Devices at IDC Asia/Pacific.

In the second quarter of 2020, almost half of the smartphones in China were shipped with 5G connectivity, which is ahead of other regions or countries, Will added.

"The local brands are driving 5G penetration within their portfolio to support operator efforts to transition existing 4G users to 5G, which have already surpassed 100 million subscribers in July," said Louis Liu, an analyst with Canalys.

Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant who has been hit hard by the Trump Administration, continued to capture a higher smartphone market share at 45.2 percent with its strong brand image and well-rounded product portfolio.

The vendor successfully targeted the 300-600 U.S. dollars segment with its Huawei Nova 7 and Honor 30 series, and enhanced its premium position with the Huawei P40 Pro series.

"Huawei is aiming to be the go-to 5G brand in China. Its 5G portfolio exceeded 60 percent of its total shipments in Q2," Liu added.

Meanwhile, Apple also achieved positive growth from a year ago in both its shipments and market share.

The iPhone SE 2020 contributed 10 percent of its overall shipments and helped to stimulate its shipments during its off season. Apple's overall performance was supported by the "618," a mid-year shopping festival held by Chinese e-commerce companies as well as better offline-channel incentives.