OnePlus CEO Promises To Bring Second 5G Phone By End-2019

Smartphone maker OnePlus has confirmed that it will bring a 5G phone by the end of 2019 to the premium segment it already dominates in the Indian market. The 5G smartphone would get a global release and is likely to be unveiled before the end of the year, as the company has typically released a new smartphone around that time.

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has reportedly said that the company is working to manufacture the second 5G phone. This is speculated to be the OnePlus 7T. It is being said that with 5G capabilities available across the world, the device should pick up the mantle from its predecessor OnePlus 7 Pro. Notably, OnePlus 7 Pro is already 5G-compatible which is compatible with UK’s EE network.

Also, the new handset would get a global release. Lau told Financial Times that for any phone to be called a ‘flagship’ phone in 2019, it must have 5G support. He believes 5G will become more popular in 2020, which is why more OnePlus phones will be compatible with 5G networks around the globe.

In India, telecom companies are awaiting the Indian government’s approval on spectrum allotment. Spectrum allocation in India is being done through the auction process and the government is yet to auction the spectrum 3.3K – 3.6K MHz bands. The spectrum band (3.5 GHz spectrum) is expected to be the first band to be globally accepted for 5G deployment.

India is predicted to have 88 Mn 5G connections by 2025, which is around 7% of the country’s total telecom connections. “This will leave India trailing regional peers such as China, which is set to see almost 30% of its total connections base on 5G by 2025, making it by some way the largest 5G market in the world,” the GSM association had noted.

Further, according to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, the Indian smartphone market saw the highest-ever second-quarter shipment of 36.9 Mn in 2019. In terms of growth, the $400-600 segment had the second-highest rate with 16.3% YoY growth in Q2 2019 — OnePlus led this segment with a 63.6% share opting for the newly launched OnePlus 7 series.