Qualcomm: 5G Android flagship phones will storm the 2019 holidays

Get ready for lots of 5G phones in time for the holidays next year.

The first devices for the fast, next-generation network will hit the market in early 2019. Samsung, for one, said it will have a phone for Verizon, AT&T and other networks in the first half of the year. By the holidays next year, every flagship handset -- at least when it comes to those running Google's Android software and using Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor -- will tap into 5G, said Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon.

"When we get to exactly this time of year one year from now … we will see every [handset maker] on the Android ecosystem, their flagship across all US carriers will be a 5G device," he told CNET in an interview Tuesday at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii. "Every Android vendor is working on 5G right now.

That stands in contrast to Apple, which reportedly won't offer a 5G iPhone until 2020. The company previously relied on Qualcomm for the wireless chips for its devices, but it's worked with Intel over the past couple of years because of a patent licensing battle with Qualcomm. Apple didn't respond to a request for comment.

Apple continues to sell tens of millions of iPhones every quarter, but there've been worries its growth could stall. Last month, Apple said it didn't sell as many iPhones as analysts expected in the quarter that ended Sept. 29, and it projected lackluster revenue results for the December quarter. Apple also said it would no longer detail unit sales of its iPhone and other major devices, a reversal from its strategy since first introducing the products.

In the second quarter that ended in June, Apple ceded its position as the world's second-biggest handset maker to Huawei. Samsung remains the largest. 
Source: https://www.cnet.com

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