Such a move would cut down on precious hardware space needed to store subscriber information and increase user security along the way, too.

The mobile industry has been paving the way for a shift to eSIM (and, eventually, to integrated SIMs or iSIMs) for a while.

Does Google have a strong motivation for doing away with physical SIMs on its phones? Rahman recalls one of the company's announcements during MWC 2023 that Android would be able to transfer subscriber information to a device's eSIM slot without the need for a physical SIM card by year's end.