Unternehmen wie Apple und Huawei treiben die Karte-freie Entwicklung von Mobiltelefonen voran.

There are reports that Huawei has introduced a new triple-foldable smartphone with eSIM support and it could be the first commercial smartphone with eSIM in China. People familiar with the industry told the newspaper "Kechuangban Daily" that Huawei actually has corresponding plans. Moreover, possibly a model of the upcoming Huawei Mate 80 series could also support eSIM.

In addition, a relevant representative of OPPO told the journalists of "Kechuangban Daily" that the first eSIM-capable smartphones are expected to enter the market around the end of this year.

eSIM is a technology in which the traditional SIM card is directly integrated into the device chip. Users do not need to insert a physical SIM card, which saves the internal space of smartphones, tablets and other end devices. Chinese telecommunications providers launched the eSIM service several years ago, but in 2023, the acceptance of new applications for this service was suspended for security reasons and other factors.

This year, however, China Mobile and China Unicom have resumed accepting applications for the eSIM service, mainly for the Internet of Things (IoT) and intelligent wearables sectors, and the smartphone industry is not yet included.

Several industry experts told the journalists of "Kechuangban Daily" that eSIM is a relatively clear development trend for manufacturers of intelligent end devices. However, state regulations and the attitudes of telecommunications providers will affect the implementation of eSIM technology in smartphones.

Smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Huawei are actively betting on eSIM

Apple is the most active company supporting eSIM among smartphone manufacturers. As early as 2011, Apple filed a patent for the eSIM card and first commercially used it in the iPad Air 2. Around 2017, Google and Apple also began to support eSIM in smartphones, but the physical SIM card slots were retained. In 2022, Apple introduced the iPhone 14 without a physical SIM card slot in the United States, which only supports eSIM.

According to media reports, the Apple iPhone 17 Air introduced in September will have an unprecedentedly thin and light design and therefore will directly dispense with the physical SIM card slot.

An insider from the supply chain told "Kechuangban Daily": If Huawei successfully launches a triple-foldable premium smartphone with eSIM support in September, it will take over from Apple the first commercial use of eSIM in smartphones in China.

Besides Huawei and Apple, other smartphone manufacturers are also betting on eSIM.

Xiaomi introduced the first eSIM-capable Xiaomi 15 Ultra overseas in March this year. A relevant representative of OPPO told the journalists of "Kechuangban Daily" that the first eSIM-capable smartphones are expected to enter the market around the end of this year.

The report "Research Results on Current Topics in the eSIM Industry (2025)" by the Taier End Device Laboratory of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) shows that in recent years, the number of countries and regions offering eSIM smartphone services has increased significantly, from 24 at the end of 2018 to 123 in the middle of 2024 (excluding roaming services). At the same time, the number of telecommunications providers offering eSIM smartphone services has increased from 45 in 2018 to 441 in June 2024.

GSMA Intelligence predicts that by the end of 2025, there will be about 1 billion eSIM smartphone connections worldwide, and this number will rise to 6.9 billion by 2030, accounting for about three-quarters of all smartphone connections.

The telecommunications providers have resumed the eSIM service, with China Unicom being the most active

Chinese telecommunications providers launched the eSIM service several years ago, but in 2023, the acceptance of new applications was completely suspended.

In November 2017, China Unicom, in cooperation with Huawei, introduced a Huawei smartwatch with an eSIM-capable own phone number service and launched a pilot operation in seven cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. In March 2019, China Unicom expanded the eSIM service for independent phone numbers of wearables from the pilot phase to the whole country.

China Telecom conducted a pilot operation of the eSIM service in four cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Chengdu in 2018 and then added the cities of Shenzhen, Wuhan and Hangzhou. China Mobile also launched a pilot operation of the eSIM service "One Number, Two Devices" in seven cities such as Shanghai and Tianjin in 2018.

In July 2023, the three major telecommunications providers suspended the acceptance of applications for the eSIM service under the pretext of "service maintenance and upgrade". Already registered users could continue to use the service, but new users could not sign up.

An insider from the telecommunications supply chain told the journalists that security risks were the main reason. At that time, the messaging mechanisms of eSIM were misused by criminal elements, leading to an increase in fraud cases.

This year, however, China Mobile and China Unicom have resumed accepting applications for the eSIM service and gradually introduced it in several cities. An insider from the supply chain of intelligent end devices told the journalists: Among the three major telecommunications providers, China Unicom is the most active, while China Telecom is the slowest because its Tiantong satellite communication service is based on authentication with physical SIM cards.

At the beginning of July this year, China Unicom resumed the eSIM service in 25 provinces and cities such as Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, mainly for the Internet of Things (IoT) and intelligent wearables sectors.

On July 11, the OPPO Watch X2 series of smartwatches introduced the eSIM service "One Number, Two Devices" from China Mobile and thus became the first commercial example of eSIM in a consumer end device since the suspension in 2023. However, phone numbers from Yunnan cannot be registered yet, and users from Sichuan have to sign up for identity verification in person.

On July 14, China Unicom quietly launched a test page for the eSIM service for smartphones, but this page was later removed the same evening.

The implementation of eSIM in smartphones is still affected by several factors

Several analysts told "Kechuangban Daily" that the future development of eSIM in smartphones mainly depends on state regulations and the activity of telecommunications providers.

Yang Guang, a leading analyst at Omdia, believes that eSIM is a relatively clear trend for manufacturers of intelligent end devices. The main advantage is that smartphones can be made thinner and more compact, and it is also easier to achieve dust and water resistance. The challenges of eSIM lie in the attitudes of telecommunications providers and regulatory factors.

"Since eSIM has no physical card, consumers can more easily switch between different network operators, which is why telecommunications providers around the world are very cautious about supporting eSIM in smartphones. Compared with smartphones, providers are more active in new services such as wearables because it is beneficial for exploring new markets. In addition, security risks such as combating telecommunications fraud associated with eSIM technology increase regulatory pressure."

Currently, the demands of end device manufacturers such as Apple and Huawei play a decisive role in the resumption of the eSIM service. Yang Guang believes that if the business strategies of telecommunications providers and regulatory policies develop more positively, greater development of eSIM in smartphones can be expected.

This article is from the WeChat account "Caixin AI Daily", author: Huang Xinyi, published by 36Kr with permission.