This morning at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Huawei announced its first 5G chip, which will allow the company’s mobile devices to take advantage of the next generation cellular networks, 5G.
Introducing the Huawei Balong 5G01 chip. The company claims that it is the first to support the new 3GPP standard for 5G networks, and that it should be able to download data at 2.3Gbps. Taking a look at the size of the chip, however, it appears that it will likely be used in mobile hotspots and not inside phones.
Huawei CEO Richard Yu said that his company has invested $600 million in the network technology, which will likely be used in everything from self-driving cars to mobile devices. In addition, the company also manufactures network equipment says that it will be the first company to offer “an end-to-end 5G solution through its network, devices and chipset-level capabilities.”
Huawei is directly challenging the likes of manufacturers like Intel and Qualcomm. Earlier this month, Qualcomm announced its own Snapdragon X24 chip, which will help prepare consumers for 5G while we wait for networks to be upgraded across the US and world. In addition, it’s already working with a variety of carriers and device makers to install the X50 modem in upcoming devices. As 5G slowly rolls out, if you happen to have a device that support 5G access, you will be one of the first to gain access.
Last year, Intel on the other hand announced its own 5G modem for connected devices like drones and cars. Last week, it announced a partnership with Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, and HP to install 5G modems in their laptops by late 2019.
