Qualcomm Inc has promised to bring 5G mobile phones to the masses with a high-end modem and its chips would also power mid-price devices hitting the market next year. The fifth-generation chipsets from Qualcomm currently run five devices from Samsung Electronics, including the $1,299 Galaxy S10 5G model and the new $2,000 Galaxy Fold.
Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon predicted such devices would achieve volume and scale. “The transition to 5G is going to be faster than earlier transitions,” Amon told Reuters, adding, “Now we have to bring it to everyone.” More than 20 network operators and a similar number of smartphone makers in the United States, Europe, and China are launching 5G services and handsets. Amon estimated there were 2.2 billion mobile users that could upgrade.
Due to U.S. trade sanctions, Huawei’s 5G-ready Mate 30 smartphone range to be launched on Sept. 19 could be hobbled because it won’t be able to run the official version of Google’s Android operating system and app services.
