Verizon and Samsung announced their plan to bring 5G smartphone to market in the first half of 2019.
Samsung, the largest smartphone maker in the world, will unveil a proof of concept 5G smartphone powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platform with the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem and antenna modules with integrated RF transceiver, RF front-end and antenna elements at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui this week.
Earlier, Sprint, the largest telecom operator in the US, announced its partnership with LG Electronics to launch 5G smartphone. China-based Lenovo will be making 5G phones in 2019.
Research firm Strategy Analytics said the top three smartphone makers such as Samsung, Huawei and Apple will see reduction in their market share in 5G era. Another report said 5G smartphones will be too costly for consumers.
Samsung and Verizon will be bringing 5G services to consumers in several cities, Brian Higgins, vice president, wireless device and product marketing at Verizon, said.
Apple to miss 5G business?
Bloomberg reported that Apple, the third largest smartphone maker, would wait until at least 2020 to release its first 5G iPhones.
Apple will be forced to delay the 5G smartphone launch because of its legal battle with chip supplier Qualcomm. Apple has already stopped using modem chips from Qualcomm.
Apple, the Cupertino, California tech company, is likely to use Intel modems, which will not be ready for production until late 2019.
The delay could make it easier for Samsung and Verizon to win customers who are eager to connect to 5G mobile networks, which will provide a leap forward in mobile data speeds, up to 50 or 100 times faster than current 4G networks.
Verizon 5G
Verizon launched the world’s first commercial 5G service in October when 5G Home went live in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Verizon will kick off 5G mobility service in early 2019 and expand rapidly. Samsung 5G smartphone users will immediately benefit from the speed and capacity of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network.
5G firsts for Verizon include 5G Labs in New York, Cambridge, MA and Washington, DC, the first 5G NR call on a commercial network, the first over-the-air data transmission on a commercial 5G NR network, and, the world’s first 5G home broadband internet service.
Baburajan K
