Radio-Frequency Communication Devices

Data on China’s communications-industry performance in H1 2026 released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) shows that the industry achieved steady quality improvement with continuous structural optimization. Driven by communications-network upgrades and terminal capacity expansion, radio-frequency (RF) devices, an indispensable core segment of the communications industrial chain, are witnessing steady expansion in market demand.

I. Terminal Capacity Expansion Fuels Robust Demand for End-side Devices

In the first half of the year, cumulative national telecommunications business revenue reached RMB 1.02 trillion, underpinning solid industry fundamentals. Total telecom business volume rose 7.7% year-on-year, and momentum for digital transformation kept gathering strength. Continuous high-end upgrade of communication subscribers has triggered explosive demand for terminal RF devices.

On the broadband front, out of 702 million fixed-broadband subscribers nationwide, gigabit-broadband users exceeded 260 million, accounting for 37.1%. With the full-scale popularization of gigabit networks, transmission requirements for high bandwidth and low latency have substantially raised performance requirements for RF devices deployed in broadband terminals.

Meanwhile, mobile-IoT terminal subscribers hit 2.993 billion, with a net increase of over 100 million within the year. Massive-volume equipment including smart-home devices, industrial terminals and connected-vehicle terminals rely on RF devices to realize wireless communication. This creates strong demand for mass-produced, miniaturized and highly-reliable components and unlocks long-term growth potential for the industry.

II. New-Infrastructure Roll-out Unleashes Base-Station Demand

In terms of 5G infrastructure, the total number of 5G base stations across China surpassed 5.15 million, with a net addition of 316 000 units in the year. Construction priorities have shifted from wide-area coverage to in-building and township-level deep supplementary deployment, generating strong demand for new-build and retrofitted base stations. 5G Massive MIMO technology doubles the consumption of RF devices per base station compared with 4G. Complex application scenarios further push component upgrades toward low insertion loss, high isolation and miniaturization, lifting the added value of high-end RF devices.

III. Surging Data Traffic Drives Technological Upgrades

Rapid traffic growth serves as the core driver for RF-device iteration. Domestic cumulative mobile-internet traffic reached 258.7 billion GB in H1, up 17.6% year-on-year. Average monthly traffic per user stood at 23.81 GB, reflecting continuously rising user traffic appetite. Emerging business forms such as high-definition live streaming, cloud gaming and VR/AR keep networks operating under persistent heavy load. As network transmission pressure keeps mounting, high-end RF devices featuring low loss, high integration and superior stability have become the market mainstream.

IV. Defined Industry Track with Clear Growth Outlook

Overall, China’s communications sector has entered a brand-new cycle featured by gigabit-network penetration, in-depth 5G development and Internet-of-Everything connectivity. In the short run, 5G supplementary-site construction, gigabit-network upgrades and existing-network optimization will sustain rigid demand for RF devices. In the medium-to-long run, the implementation of emerging scenarios including the industrial Internet, connected vehicles and low-altitude economy, together with pre-research on 6G technologies, will continuously advance component upgrades toward higher frequency, greater integration and further miniaturization.

As core fundamental hardware for communication networks, the RF-communication-device industry benefits from multiple dividends: steady expansion of communications infrastructure, massive growth of terminals and continuous technological iteration. It boasts highly certain growth prospects and represents a high-quality sub-segment with prominent industrial and investment value within the communications track.