Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), today announced that its Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X50 5G NR modem family has been selected by a number of global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for standard-compliant 5G NR mobile device product launches starting in 2019. Those working with Qualcomm Technologies include OEMs such as Asus, Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Connected Technologies Limited, HMD Global – the home of Nokia phones, HTC, Inseego/Novatel Wireless, LG, NetComm Wireless, NETGEAR, OnePlus, OPPO, Sharp Corporation, Sierra Wireless, Sony Mobile, Telit, vivo, Wingtech, WNC, Xiaomi and ZTE. These OEMs are working to commercialize 5G mobile devices for the sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum bands starting in 2019 based on the first commercially announced 5G modem solution, the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem family.
Qualcomm Technologies continues to be a mobile industry leader with its 5G mobile chipset products and 5G ecosystem collaborations in support of aiming to deliver commercial 5G NR mobile devices in 2019. The arrival of 5G will expand mobile into new spectrum bands and all spectrum types, allowing for enhanced mobile broadband and increasing the overall average download speeds for virtually all smartphone users. 5G NR technologies will allow for multi-gigabit per second data rates at significantly lower latency than today’s network, amongst other capabilities. These technologies will be critical to meeting the increasing connectivity requirements for emerging consumer mobile broadband experiences such as virtual reality, augmented reality and fiber-like cloud connectivity, as well as enabling new high-reliability, low-latency services. Furthermore, for the Always Connected PC, significantly lower latency will allow for an instant link to the cloud for applications requiring real-time interactivity, such as interactive gaming, real-time audio translation, real-time text translation and real-time collaborative editing.
5G use cases include enhanced mobile broadband to smartphones; Always Connected PCs; head-mounted displays (HMD) for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR); and Mobile Broadband, all of which require constant and consistent cloud connectivity. Expanding on each of these areas:
- 5G-enabled smartphones: With 5G, consumers will almost never again need to log on to public Wi-Fi. They will also enjoy faster browsing, faster downloads, better quality video calls, UHD and 360-degree video streaming and instant cloud access than currently available.
- Always Connected PCs: With the advent of 5G networks, “Always Connected” PCs will be able to utilize super high speed, low latency connectivity for the next level of cloud services, as well as high-quality video conferencing, interactive gaming and increased productivity due to the flexibility to work anywhere.
- HMDs: 5G enhanced mobile broadband will further elevate virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR) experiences with its increased capacity at lower cost and ultra-low latency – down to 1 millisecond.
- Mobile Broadband: Fiber speeds and massive capacity to support insatiable consumer demand for unlimited data, as well as superior mobile and home broadband internet access.
“OnePlus has been working closely with Qualcomm Technologies since our foundation. Together, we have enabled a slew of breakthrough technologies in each OnePlus smartphone generation,” said Pete Lau, founder and chief executive officer, OnePlus. “Facing the transition to 5G, OnePlus is pleased to continue our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, utilizing our expertise to provide richer and superior mobile experience to users across the world.”
The first commercial launches of 5G mobile devices featuring the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem family are expected to launch starting in 2019. For more information, visit www.qualcomm.com.