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HUAWEI wants to lead the market with 5G phones
June 08, 2025
With the fifth generation of mobile networks seemingly around the corner,Huaweiwants to be the first one to greet it at the door with mobile chips and smartphones.
According toDigiTimes, HUAWEI rotating and acting CEO Eric Xu spoke during MWC Shanghai 2018 and said the company will launch commercial5Gsolutions and 5G chips for smartphones in March 2019. HUAWEI will also launch 5G-compatible smartphones in June 2019.
These rollouts seem rather aggressive, especially since carriers are still in the early days of 5G testing. HUAWEI attributed the speedy rollouts to the launch of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) Release 16 specification, which the company said will accelerate the development of 5G networks and services.
HUAWEI did not say which smartphones would be 5G-ready. The June 2019 release window means a P-series smartphone would not qualify. Instead, a Mate-series smartphone might be a more suitable candidate and would be available before the end of 2019.
We also do not know when consumers will get to use 5G. In the U.S.,Verizonplans totarget home usein a handful of markets by year’s end.T-Mobile, meanwhile, plans to launch its 5G networkin 30 citiesby the end of 2018.
Sprintmight not need to bother with 5G, since its “merger” with T-Mobile will likely go through. Finally,AT&Tplans to launch 5G in 12 locations by the end of 2018 and additional locations in 2019.
More significantly, will HUAWEI’s relationships with certain countries prevent the company from fully realizing its 5G ambitions? Australia, for example, is contemplatinga 5G banon HUAWEI.
Meanwhile, the U.S. governmentsaidthe company failed to provide enough information about its relationship with the Chinese government. A handful of lawmakers even called for Google toreconsider its relationshipwith HUAWEI. At least HUAWEI managed toget Europe’s blessingand launch 5G base stations in the continent.
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