5G is still in its nascent stages, and still, only a handful of countries across the globe have live 5G networks available. However, most flagship smartphones launched in the second half of the year have a 5G version. For example, even the Huawei Mate 30 Pro comes in two different versions, a 4G one and a 5G one. The main reason why Huawei decided to release two different versions of its flagship is that 5G tech is more expensive.

But things will change in 2020. According to Huawei’s Richard Yu, cheaper 5G phones are coming our way next year.

“5G will definitely hit mid-range and even low price range definitely from next year,” said Richard Yu while speaking to journalists at the Mate 30 series event. “This year (our) premium segmentation is 5G, next year we will go to middle-tier 5G smartphones, and later on, the low tier.”

Editor’s Pick: Huawei VP Bruce Lee explains the Huawei Mate 30 Pro’s circular camera ring

Given that Huawei traditionally sticks with its Kirin chipsets, even for its mid-range smartphones, this is a good hint that we’ll see a 5G enabled mid-range Kirin processor sometime in the next few months. Currently, Kirin 810 and Kirin 710 handle Huawei and Honor’s mid-range and budget segments. So we may see a 5G enabled Kirin 800 series chip next year.

This news comes right after Qualcomm announced its plans to release 5G integrated mid-range Snapdragon 600 and 700 series chipsets. In fact, the upper mid-range 5G chip from Qualcomm could meet us before the end of this year. Notably, Samsung already has the Exynos 980 with an integrated 5G modem targeted at non-flagship smartphones.

So expect a new wave of affordable 5G smartphones in the next few months.

UP NEXT: Huawei recruiting EMUI 10 Internal Beta testers for Mate 20 Pro, Honor 20 and others

(Via)

The post Huawei CEO says affordable 5G phones are coming your way in 2020 appeared first on Gizmochina.