Qualcomm Says Every Android Manufacturer Will Have 5G Flagship Phone by End of 2019

Apple is reportedly waiting until at least 2020 to roll out next-generation 5G cellular data technology in its iPhone lineup, but according to Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon, “every” Android handset manufacturer will have a flagship phone with 5G support across U.S. carriers by the end of next year, reports CNET.

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.”

Apple is of course embroiled in a patent dispute with Qualcomm that has seen the iPhone maker shift its modem orders over to Intel. Apple is said to be targeting Intel’s upcoming 8160/8161 5G modem for the iPhone, but that part won’t enter mass production the second half of 2019, which means it won’t start appearing in devices until the first half of 2020.

Regardless of its dispute with Qualcomm, Apple has historically not been on the cutting edge of adopting the latest cellular standards, preferring to wait until they’ve matured and chips have been better optimized before including the technologies in its devices, so it shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise that Apple will likely lag behind other manufacturers in pushing out 5G support.