The first 5G phones ready to meet next-generation mobile standards will be available for the mass market in 2019 — a year ahead of most predictions — in several Asian countries and the US, Qualcomm Inc chief executive officer Steven Mollenkopf said on Thursday.
Mollenkopf said in an interview that rising consumer and business demands were forcing the industry to accelerate its previous 2020 timeline to upgrade to new networks and devices.
“You will see it [5G] in real devices, on the shelf, in 2019 and if I were to answer that same question a year ago, I would have said 2020,” Mollenkopf said in an interview on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Commercialization of 5G is vital to the fortunes of makers of network equipment gear such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為), Nokia Oyj and Ericsson AB, as well as device makers like Samsung Electronics Co and Apple Inc, by enabling demand for new features and equipment upgrades.
Moving to new networks promises to enable new mobile services and even whole new business models, but could pose challenges for industries unable to invest in upgrades.
Unlike the prior upgrades of cellular standards — 2G in the early 1990s, 3G near the turn of the century and 4G in 2010 — 5G standards are to deliver not just faster phone and computer data, but link up cars, machines, cargo and crop equipment to the Internet.
Mollenkopf said South Korea, Japan and the US all now had several network operators in each market preparing mainstream network launches in 2019, with China likely to join this early wave rather than hanging behind.
“I think you will see the typical first movers — [South] Korea, Japan and the United States,” he said, referring to the history of 3G and 4G cellular network upgrades, when South Korea and Japan moved first and the US quickly followed.
“You will see robust demand in all of those locations, meaning that there are multiple operators wanting to be first and not be left behind. [Most] will have a different deployment strategy or goal,” he said, fueling competition for new users.
China, far and away the world’s largest market for phones, has traditionally lagged behind these early adopters, but Mollenkopf said that it is likely to join the first movers to 5G.
“What we are seeing in China is a real desire not to be a follower and to launch with everyone else. That’s new this time,” he said. “From a geopolitical perspective, certain regions of the world just don’t want to be late to that game.”
The Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, in February next year are expected to be the first widespread public showcase for 5G services.
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