5G is a hot topic at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii this week, with the company announcing the new Snapdragon 765 (5G ready) and 865 (5G via a modem) processors for high-end 5G phones.
The 865 processor will power devices such as Xiaomi's Mi 10 and Oppo's next high-end phone, two devices which are expected to launch in the first quarter of 2020.
And Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon also announced at the Summit that the company is expecting 1.4 billion 5G smartphone shipments by 2022, with 2.8 billion 5G connections across the world by 2025.
2020: the year 5G goes mainstream
"I had very high hopes for 5G's rollout, but what's happening is exceeding all expectations. It's the fastest G transition we've ever seen."
Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm.
By providing two flavours of 5G chipset to OEMs (as different price points) Qualcomm’s primary objective is to get 5G into as many phones as possible. But with the cheaper chip requiring a separate modem, there is likely to be a compromise on battery life, which may result in a poorer user experience.
AS well as announcing these new chips, Qualcomm also set out some pretty impressive goals at the Summit, saying that there could be “significant 5G coverage” around the globe by 2021.
Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon explained at the Summit how the company was "projecting that more than 200 million 5G smartphones will ship in this coming year alone". These figures are significant, especially when you consider how far 5G roll out has to go before people see it as a motivating factor for upgrading their handsets. But Qualcomm remains optimistic.
"I had very high hopes for 5G's rollout, but what's happening is exceeding all expectations," Amon said. "It's the fastest G transition we've ever seen."
5G for the future
5G is set to bring some pretty amazing benefits and 5G use cases, including faster connectivity and more reliable video streaming. However, the benefits are much broader than simple speed improvements, and 5G is set to improve public safety, energy usage and even control traffic.
“One year ago we were talking about the 5G future,” Amon said, “it's amazing the amount of progress we were able to make this year.”
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