5G connectivity is still in its early stages, and only a few countries worldwide have compatible networks. Most flagship smartphones launched in the second half of the year have a 5G version. The reason why manufacturers launch two different versions of their flagships is that 5G technology is more expensive.
Currently, if you want a smartphone with 5G connectivity you have to spend a good amount of money but things will change in 2020. According to Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei, the cheapest 5G phones will come next year.
â5G will definitely hit mid-range and even low price range definitely from next year (sic),â Yu told journalists at the Mate 30 event. âThis year (our) premium segmentation is 5G, next year we will go to middle tier 5G smartphones, and later on, the low tier.â
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Since Huawei traditionally uses its Kirin chipsets, even for mid-range smartphones, this is a good clue that we will see a mid-range Kirin processor with 5G sometime in the coming months.
Currently, the Kirin 810 and Kirin 710 are used in mid-range smartphones from Huawei and Honor, so we can see a Kirin 800 series chip-enabled for 5G next year.
This news comes just after Qualcomm announced its plans to launch mid-range chips from the Snapdragon 600 and 700 series with 5G support.
It is worth to mention that according to Taiwanese media, MediaTek plans to ship 60 million 5G chips shipments next year. MediaTek already has the MT6885 7nm 5G SoC whose current status is âultra-quick order productionâ. This chip should go into mass production before the end of this year.
