5G fast becoming a reality in China
September 24, 2019 Category IT & Telecom, Weekly
The Vivo IQOO Pro, the cheapest 5G-capable smartphone on the Chinese market
5G is poised to power the next generation of internet connectivity and e-commerce. Faster and more reliable than anything that has come before, 5G networks will enable people to communicate, consume entertainment and shop at unprecedented speeds. Markets like South Korea and Japan are leading the way in 5G adoption, along with China, which is set to become the world’s largest 5G market by 2025 with 460 million 5G users.
Huawei set up its mobile phone department in 2003, when China was still using 2G, or second-generation mobile technology. Back then, it took about 5 seconds to open a webpage. Sixteen years later, Huawei is the world’s second-largest smartphone maker. Its 5G-enabled handsets can download large data files, such as a 1 GB movie, in seconds. Huawei’s rise has been meteoric, coinciding with the development of China’s telecom industry, which has been transformed from a follower during the period of 2G and 3G to a pioneer in the 5G era.
Four of the world’s top six smartphone makers – Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo – are Chinese. In 2018, the country produced 1.8 billion smartphones, accounting for 90% of global production, according to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). At the end of May, Chinese companies accounted for more than 30% of all patents essential to the global standards for 5G. China issued commercial 5G licenses in June, and since then telecom carriers have been accelerating the building of the network infrastructure.
Yang Jie, Chairman of China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile operator, said the company plans to cover 50 cities across China with 5G signals by the end of this year. “That will involve deploying 50,000 5G base stations across the country,” Yang said. Similarly, China Unicom said it will cover at least 40 cities with 5G signals by the end of this year and work together with all industry partners, including foreign companies, to accelerate 5G infrastructure construction. The country’s telecom carriers are expected to spend CNY900 billion to CNY1.5 trillion on 5G network construction from 2020 to 2025. The first batch of 5G smartphones hit the market in August.
Chinese companies have released 11 5G mobile phone models so far. James Yan, Research Director at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said the prices of 5G smartphones are lower than market expectations. The cheapest one is the Vivo iQOO Pro at CNY3,798, about CNY2,000 to CNY3,000 lower than 5G alternatives by domestic rivals such as Huawei and foreign competitors such as Samsung. Vivo said pre-orders for its iQOO Pro model are worth more than CNY100 million as of September 1, 10 days after its launch.
China Eastern Airlines is introducing new intelligent boarding services based on 5G technology at Beijing’s new Daxing international airport. Along with Huawei and China Unicom, it has installed a facial recognition system that allows passengers to complete boarding procedures by having their faces scanned. The carrier has also launched the world’s first electronic luggage tag, which allows travelers to check-in and track their bags via their mobile phones. Such smart services will be field-tested when the new mega airport opens by the end of the month, and then promoted at other airports in Shanghai and Beijing as well as nationwide, China Eastern said. Passengers can also check flight information, gates, weather at their destination, and walking time to their gate by scanning their faces at devices around the airport.
Apple’s new iPhone 11 went on sale in China on September 20, but received a cooler reception compared to its predecessors. Many compared it with Huawei’s newly launched Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro, saying the Chinese firm’s device beats the new iPhone in terms of innovation and quality. The 5G version of the Huawei Mate 30 moreover offers connectivity to the new 5G networks already operating in China, a function which the iPhone lacks. Huawei unveiled its Mate 30 smartphone series in Munich, Germany, on September 19 and the phones will be available for pre-ordering in China this week. The Shenzhen-based company will promote its own Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) app gallery, in lieu of Google’s own system. Sales in Europe have been postponed due to the lack of the Google Play Store under the U.S. trade ban.
The European Commission is preparing a coordinated EU-wide evaluation of the potential risks associated with 5G networks by October 3. The Commission will propose measures for addressing the risks identified during the assessment process by year’s end. Huawei has been appealing EU member states to oppose the U.S. effort to block it from supplying EU countries with 5G mobile network hardware and software. The U.S., in turn, has threatened to cut off intelligence-sharing with countries that use Huawei’s products. Huawei has been temporarily suspended from the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), an organization that shares threat intelligence in security incidents among more than 400 member companies in Europe, the Americas, Asia and elsewhere.
- KURT VANDEPUTTE (UMICORE) APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE FLANDERS-CHINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (FCCC)
- Webinar: “Knowing Your Chinese Partner” – May 26, 2021, 10 am – 12 am
- EMA starts rolling review of CoronaVac, WHO approves Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use
- The Global Times warns not to politicize the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI)
- Hainan to become biggest duty-free market in the world