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The future of eSIM in smartphones: are we at a turning point?
Momentum for eSIM in smartphones is accelerating – at least from an industry perspective. Apple and Samsung, two of the three largest OEMs in the world by smartphone unit sales, have introduced eSIM in their flagship smartphone models, while over 100 mobile operators offer eSIM services to their customers, spanning more than 50 countries across all regions but Africa.
That’s significant progress, but what lies ahead? Our new smartphone survey, covering 100 mobile operators worldwide, reveals important insights into the future of eSIM. We highlight five key takeaways, as well as crucial implications for eSIM stakeholders. Further insights and regional views are available from GSMA Intelligence.
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The future of eSIM in smartphones: are we at a turning point?
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Learn moreRelated research
The digital consumer in 2026: how consumer behaviour is changing across 5G, AI, eSIM, devices and content
Leveraging data from the 2025 survey, conducted between June and August, this report provides relevant insights into how the consumer behaviour is changing across eight topic areas: 5G; devices; eSIM; generative AI; pay TV; gaming; the metaverse and extended reality; and sustainability.
Consumers in Focus: eSIM User Behaviour Survey Dashboard 2026
This dashboard, based on GSMA Intelligence 2025 consumer survey, provides all the relevant data related to eSIM user behaviour in a consistent and structured way – a valuable asset for companies looking to formulate or adjust their consumer commercial strategies and plans.
eSIM will unlock LPWAN-based IoT opportunities
eSIM technology can help solve a number of issues for low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN) as they scale into large-scale deployments. These issues include the higher cost and complexity of provisioning devices with physical SIM cards, device and lifecycle management, and higher opex due to required human intervention. The greater the adoption and spread of LPWAN, the greater the operational challenges for IoT service providers – but eSIM can address most of these challenges.
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