Recently, the smart watch Watch3 released by Huawei was the first to load HarmonyOS system and supported the triple-play eSIM-1 dual-terminal service, which made the eSIM service, which had not received much attention, become a hot spot. Based on the love of Huawei Watch3 and HarmonyOS system, netizens also love me, love my dog, and care about whether the triple-play eSIM service has been opened in their cities.

Probably influenced by this, Beijing mobile recently launched eSIM-1 dual terminal service, and the first batch of AppleWatch series supported this service. whether other smart watches with cellular communication functions, such as Huawei's Watch3 and pro, Samsung Watch3, OPPO Watch and Meizu watch, can be used remains to be tested.

at present, not all smart watches in the market support eSIM, but most smart watches launched by mobile phone manufacturers will basically have one that supports eSIM, which may be closely related to the fact that mobile phone manufacturers are engaged in the communication field themselves, and manufacturers are also trying to expand their ecological boundaries through smart watches associated with mobile phones.

mobile phone manufacturers actively launch smart phones with eSIM function, with the obvious purpose of attracting users' attention and promoting product sales by means of this convenient calling method.

the service of eSIM-1 dual terminal is not available today. As far as I remember, it was available in a Samsung mobile phone used many years ago. At that time, only a few manufacturers provided esim function, which was not as popular as it is today.

moreover, eSIM function is mainly used for smart watches supporting cellular network at present, but with the gradual popularization of smart cars, this technology is gradually used for in-vehicle communication and Internet access.

with the gradual opening of eSIM services in various cities, more and more users have opened it. There are two main forces pushing it. First, manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi have no technical difficulties in opening eSIM functions on smart watches. Second, operators are the most critical. Whether eSIM services can be popularized depends on the attitude of operators. At present, although the promotion of eSIM services is a bit slow, at least operators are supportive.

however, some analysts on the internet say that the eSIM service will impact the existing SIM card service and even replace the physical SIM card in the future, so the attitude of operators is not so positive. The key to this statement is to find out whether the eSIM service will affect the physical SIM card. At present, it should not cause the so-called impact. As for whether it will replace the SIM card, there are two trends: < P > First, it cannot replace the SIM card, and the two will coexist in the future; Second, the SIM card will be completely replaced in the future, and the mobile phone will no longer have a SIM card slot.

next, let's take a look at this eSIM business that many people are not familiar with, and see which trend the eSIM business is more inclined to develop in the future.

among the mobile phone manufacturers, Apple applied for a patent on the relevant virtual SIM card in the United States in 211, and plans to use it on its latest iphone. We know that Apple attaches great importance to product design and pursues the ultimate slim experience, and never puts more spare parts.

For the dual-card dual standby that users in China are concerned about, Apple also tended to solve this problem through eSIM at first. In the iPhoneXS model launched in 218, the design of single-entity SIM card and eSIM card was adopted. However, due to the environment of domestic operators, the version of the Bank of China still adopted the dual-entity SIM card scheme to realize dual-card dual standby, while the single-entity SIM card plus eSIM card scheme was used outside China.

From this point of view, the traditional dual-card dual-standby iPhone is actually a customized model specially launched for China. In the Android mobile phone camp, Samsung also promoted the eSIM virtual card service for mobile phones together with Apple in 215, but Samsung later only embedded the SIM card service in its smart watch, which is the same as Apple's iWatch.

it seems that although foreign operators also support eSIM card services, they are not as powerful as traditional SIM cards, which is similar to the operators in China.

in China, China Unicom took the lead in opening the eSIM card service at the end of 217. At that time, Huawei's Watch 2 Pro and other watches were supported to be opened. In 218, Unicom was exclusively approved by the pilot of the dual-terminal business of eSIM No.1, which was first launched in Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou and Changsha. Apple's iWatch 3 first supported this business.

I have to say that Apple is still sensitive to the business field of eSIM. After all, many years ago, Apple began to promote this business to be used on many Apple devices. Once the China market was opened, Apple's response speed was still relatively fast.

next, from 22, China mobile and China telecom have also piloted eSIM-1 dual terminal service in some cities. however, overall, in recent years, eSIM-1 dual terminal service has made little progress, and it is still available in a limited number of cities.

The reasons for the slow progress are not technical reasons. There may be the following reasons:

First, the public is not very familiar with the eSIM card business, and operators have not made great efforts to promote it; Second, everyone has become accustomed to mobile phones that support dual cards and dual standby, and there are many people who use two mobile phones at the same time. There is no rigid demand for eSIM virtual cards; Third, at present, the eSIM virtual card is mainly used for smart watches, and the usage scenario is generally used in an environment away from the mobile phone, such as running. However, in most scenarios, people still take their mobile phones with them, and the user group of smart watches is not as big as expected, and it is mostly used by young people.

Therefore, although the eSIM card has advantages that the physical SIM card does not have, such as more convenient switching of operators, online application, more convenient multi-number management, automatic switching of operator networks in different regions and higher security, it is far from being widely used by the whole people.

there is no doubt that eSIM card has a long way to go before it is widely used. however, today, we have realized the electronic transformation of electronic identity, electronic visa and electronic social security card. will the entity SIM card fully realize the electronization of eSIM in the near future? It is inevitable to think about it, but it is not yet time.

not only the eSIM virtual card has arrived, but also the more advanced iSIM technology can integrate the SIM card with the mobile phone processor, and there are no additional SIM card components. The operator provides over-the-air number writing service, which is further than the current eSIM-1 dual-terminal service. In this field, Qualcomm has begun to conduct research. In the 219 MWC exhibition in Shanghai, Qualcomm demonstrated the latest "iSIM card" technology, through the security module of Snapdragon mobile platform.

The development of mobile communication technology is endless, and today, technology is often ahead of reality. Whether you accept it or not, more advanced technology is waiting not far away. The SIM card of mobile phone is closely related to everyone's life. On the one hand, manufacturers and operators play the role of pursuing interests, on the other hand, they also assume the social responsibility of popularizing advanced technology to benefit the public. How to balance the two is really debatable.

fortunately, there are people who are constantly trying new technologies and experiences. Huawei, Apple and other companies and operators in China are actually insiders. Although users are outside the bureau, they are also the decisive force to finally promote technological change.

are you using eSIM-1 dual terminal service? How does it feel? Do you think the physical SIM card will be replaced by eSIM in the future? Welcome to leave a message for discussion!