What was the percentage increase in the number of global 5G connections in 2020 compared to the previous year
27% year-over-year to more than 1.3 billion units, with a record 750 million units from our base station and IoT customers.
In perspective, 2020 was a landmark year for both CEVA and its industries. The global pandemic highlighted the impact connectivity has on our lives and acted as a catalyst for rapid change toward digital transformation. This presents a unique set of opportunities for CEVA differentiated technologies and operational agility, in particular in four key markets: 5G RAN, Wi-Fi, TWS earbuds and automotive.
Let me take the next few minutes to elaborate on these growth drivers and the anchors CEVA has already in place in these lucrative markets. 5G RAN. 5G offers data rates and ubiquitous connectivity. The fast rollout of 5G networks to-date is predominantly aimed at smartphone use cases. According to Ericsson's most recent Mobility Report, by the end of 2020, over $1 billion or 15% of the world's population live in a 5G coverage area. China in particular is very advanced with 70% of the global 5G connections according to the GSM Association. Beyond smartphones, 5G offers new growth opportunities in regards to URLLC and IoT applications. These applications will be at the center of next-generation technology deployments in industrial, robotics, AR and autonomous cars.
The digital transformation, and the new applications 5G enables, present sizable opportunities for CEVA's 5G RAN technologies beyond our existing incumbency in baseband. This specifically applies to the growing use of Active Antennas, a new antenna technology that combines arrays of antennas with DSP to process complex algorithms such as massive MIMO and beamforming for more precise steering of the antenna signal which gains a substantial boost in capacity and energy efficiencies. The emergence of O-RAN and vRAN which aims to transform the telecom industry from relying on proprietary platforms from a limited number of OEM to a disaggregate network with open interfaces and a multitude of merchant chips from incumbent and new suppliers. Rethink Research is expecting Open RAN to account for 58% of the overall RAN capex spending by 2026.
With our second-to-none competitive edge in DSP processors, we are able to empower our existing and upcoming customers to innovate and quickly expand their market reach to the remote radio units and address new opportunities in the RAN space like private networks, small cells, Fixed Wireless Access and O-RAN. We are encouraged by the progress ZTE has made in the 5G RAN space, growing its share in the global RAN market from 8% to 11% on a year-over-year basis, according to Dell'Oro, and we expect other customers of ours to go into production in 2021.
Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi is deployed in over 5 billion smartphones and more than 300 million hotspots today. Cisco estimates that more than 50% of the global mobile data traffic is offloaded to Wi-Fi, and this is set to grow to over 70%. AT&T noted that its network experienced 90% Wi-Fi data growth during the pandemic. The new Wi-Fi standards, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, provide substantially higher data rates of up to 9.6 giga bit per second versus 1.3 giga bit per second in the prior generation, Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6 also presents sizable opportunities beyond smartphones and PCs, through the proliferation of connected IoT devices such as smart home appliances, smart TVs, smart speakers, connected cars and wearables.
Our RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 6 IP is at the forefront of the Wi-Fi 6 upgrade cycle and the only IP with successive record of accomplishment. We have signed to date more than 10 Wi-Fi 6 customers, and our existing Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 customer shipments grew more than six-fold in 2020, the start of a significant expected ramp up. In addition, as I noted earlier, Wi-Fi 6 along with our Bluetooth technologies bring us opportunities to penetrate the high volume market of smartphones as more OEMs are looking to internalize wireless connectivity technologies, as well as semis that look to take advantage of our leadership in the Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth domains.
TWS earbuds, The TWS earbuds market pre
27% year-over-year to more than 1.3 billion units, with a record 750 million units from our base station and IoT customers.
In perspective, 2020 was a landmark year for both CEVA and its industries. The global pandemic highlighted the impact connectivity has on our lives and acted as a catalyst for rapid change toward digital transformation. This presents a unique set of opportunities for CEVA differentiated technologies and operational agility, in particular in four key markets: 5G RAN, Wi-Fi, TWS earbuds and automotive.
Let me take the next few minutes to elaborate on these growth drivers and the anchors CEVA has already in place in these lucrative markets. 5G RAN. 5G offers data rates and ubiquitous connectivity. The fast rollout of 5G networks to-date is predominantly aimed at smartphone use cases. According to Ericsson's most recent Mobility Report, by the end of 2020, over $1 billion or 15% of the world's population live in a 5G coverage area. China in particular is very advanced with 70% of the global 5G connections according to the GSM Association. Beyond smartphones, 5G offers new growth opportunities in regards to URLLC and IoT applications. These applications will be at the center of next-generation technology deployments in industrial, robotics, AR and autonomous cars.
The digital transformation, and the new applications 5G enables, present sizable opportunities for CEVA's 5G RAN technologies beyond our existing incumbency in baseband. This specifically applies to the growing use of Active Antennas, a new antenna technology that combines arrays of antennas with DSP to process complex algorithms such as massive MIMO and beamforming for more precise steering of the antenna signal which gains a substantial boost in capacity and energy efficiencies. The emergence of O-RAN and vRAN which aims to transform the telecom industry from relying on proprietary platforms from a limited number of OEM to a disaggregate network with open interfaces and a multitude of merchant chips from incumbent and new suppliers. Rethink Research is expecting Open RAN to account for 58% of the overall RAN capex spending by 2026.
 With our second-to-none competitive edge in DSP processors, we are able to empower our existing and upcoming customers to innovate and quickly expand their market reach to the remote radio units and address new opportunities in the RAN space like private networks, small cells, Fixed Wireless Access and O-RAN. We are encouraged by the progress ZTE has made in the 5G RAN space, growing its share in the global RAN market from 8% to 11% on a year-over-year basis, according to Dell'Oro, and we expect other customers of ours to go into production in 2021.
Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi is deployed in over 5 billion smartphones and more than 300 million hotspots today. Cisco estimates that more than 50% of the global mobile data traffic is offloaded to Wi-Fi, and this is set to grow to over 70%. AT&T noted that its network experienced 90% Wi-Fi data growth during the pandemic. The new Wi-Fi standards, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, provide substantially higher data rates of up to 9.6 giga bit per second versus 1.3 giga bit per second in the prior generation, Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6 also presents sizable opportunities beyond smartphones and PCs, through the proliferation of connected IoT devices such as smart home appliances, smart TVs, smart speakers, connected cars and wearables.
Our RivieraWaves Wi-Fi 6 IP is at the forefront of the Wi-Fi 6 upgrade cycle and the only IP with successive record of accomplishment. We have signed to date more than 10 Wi-Fi 6 customers, and our existing Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 customer shipments grew more than six-fold in 2020, the start of a significant expected ramp up. In addition, as I noted earlier, Wi-Fi 6 along with our Bluetooth technologies bring us opportunities to penetrate the high volume market of smartphones as more OEMs are looking to internalize wireless connectivity technologies, as well as semis that look to take advantage of our leadership in the Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth domains.
TWS earbuds, The TWS earbuds market pre