Smartphone firms Oppo and Vivo invest on 5G

Smart phone giants Oppo and Vivo are investing heavily in 5G technologies, which will provide 20 to 50 times faster internet,  compared with current 4G networks.

Oppo plans to more than double annual research investment to 10 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion) in 2019, compared with 4 billion yuan this year. The investment will be poured into 5G,  artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, said Chen Mingyong, founder and CEO of Oppo. 

“It’s a must-have technology  (among smartphone firms) within one or two years,” Chen said.

The 5G network will offer 1 gigabyte per second mobile internet bandwidth, which has a 20 to 50 times faster download speed  compared with current 4G networks. China is expected to issue 5G licenses next year.

By 2026, 5G will create a market valued US$1.3 trillion, bring business opportunities to carriers and smartphone firms, as well as  industries such as manufacturing, energy, public security and healthcare, said Ericsson, one of the top telecommunications equipment makers for 5G.

Vivo demonstrated trial 5G phones in Beijing recently. It  established a 5G research center in 2016 and plans to increase investment on it.

Oppo will demonstrate its 5G service in Guangzhou next month, through a partnership with China Mobile.

According to IDC’s latest report, Huawei led the domestic smartphone market in the third quarter with a 24.6 percent market shares, followed by Vivo’s 21.7 percent and Oppo’s 20.4 percent.