Somehow, we’re already flooded with Galaxy S10 rumors even though Samsung’s next big thing will be the Galaxy Note 9, due this summer. However, some reports say the Galaxy S10 might launch earlier than usual next year, as Samsung is finally bringing the Galaxy X foldable phone to market later in the year. That’s why the Galaxy S10 could be unveiled in January at CES 2019, while the Galaxy X would be announced just over a month later, at MWC. But will the Galaxy S10 be Samsung’s first 5G phone?
A new report from Business Korea says that 5G smartphones are expected to come out this year, although there’s no word on what companies are going to make them. The news comes from a Qualcomm senior vice president, Durga Prasad Malladi, who apparently said in an interview this week that “5G smartphones will be launched within the year.” It’s unclear what device or devices the exec referred to.
The report notes that Samsung is a major Qualcomm partner, and it’s likely that Qualcomm’s 5G chips will make their way into Samsung phones in the future.
However, Samsung isn’t likely to launch any flagship handset with 5G in late 2018. And we’d be surprised to see a non-flagship Samsung phone be among the first devices to support 5G out of the box. The Business Korea report also notes that Korean mobile carriers will be ready to launch commercial 5G services next March, following the 5G spectrum auction in June.
Samsung’s Galaxy S phone usually hits stores in March or April every year in various markets, Korea included. Even if the Galaxy S10 is unveiled much earlier than anticipated this year, it will make sense for Samsung to have the phone ready for 5G, considering that the Galaxy S is still the most important money-maker of the year for Samsung’s mobile division.
Whether it’ll be the Galaxy S10 or something else, it’s safe to say there’s no way that Samsung will pass up the opportunity to be among the first companies to launch 5G phones early next year. Samsung will surely want to use all the 5G buzz to sell more phones. And what better way to get the buzz going than by launching a 5G-ready Galaxy S10?
