Wuzhen, China: China has been one of the first countries in the world to embrace 5G, and now manufacturers and operators are working together to deliver the technology to the masses as soon as possible.
Speaking at the World Internet Conference on Sunday, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has announced that the company is planning to launch more than 10 5G smartphones by 2020.
The top mobile network carriers in China accepted more than 9.3 million subscriptions for 5G even before the network officially rolled out. China Mobile accepted 5.6 million subscriptions, China Telecom scored 1.9 million, and China Unicom “People in the industry fear that next year 4G models won’t sell, this is a step you have no choice but to take. So we hope that operators can speed up their expansion of 5G base stations.”
According to Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer TSMC, the demand for 5G phones is expected to reach around 300 million by next year. Currently, 5G phones only make up 1% of the total population of smartphones, but this figure is expected to hit 10% in 2020 as manufacturers and network providers shift towards 5G.
Xiaomi CEO didn’t confirm the name of the 5G smartphones that the company plans to launch next year but it looks like the phones are already in the works. As noted earlier Xiaomi has launched two 5G phones this year — Mi MIX 3 5G and Mi 9 Pro 5G. The first one – Mi MIX 3 5G – is the 5G edition of the standard Mi MIX 3 that launched last year. While the Mi 9 Pro 5G is the 5G version of the Mi 9 Pro that launched beginning this year.
