San Diego-based Qualcomm announced a partnership agreement Thursday with six Chinese electronics manufacturing companies to introduce premium 5G wireless smartphones and other devices by 2019.
“5G will bring massive new opportunities to the mobile industry, and we are excited to work with these manufacturers on this 5G Pioneer Initiative,” said Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon. “Qualcomm Technologies has close relationships within China’s mobile and semiconductor ecosystem, and we’ll continue to work with this ecosystem to drive innovation as we move from the 3G/4G era to the 5G era.”
The initiative involves the Chinese companies Lenovo Group, Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications, vivo Communication Technology, Xiaomi Communications, ZTE Mobile Devices and Wingtech Technology.
“In the coming 5G era, we are pleased to maintain a close relationship with Qualcomm Technologies and continue to introduce high-quality smartphones, while expanding our overseas business network,” said Wei Shen, chief executive officer of vivo.
The announcement was made at Qualcomm China Tech Day in Beijing, an event that brought mobile technology leaders from across China to discuss the latest developments and future of the mobile industry.
5G stands for 5th generation wireless system and promises a tenfold increase in speed from the current 4G. For example, with 5G a full HD movie can be downloaded in a matter of seconds.
