5G continues to be a major talking point in the technology world and with the public launch of 5G getting ever closer in the UK, it’s a race between providers to be the first widespread 5G network, whilst it’s also a race across the globe to have the first 5G capable phone.
Both Huawei and OnePlus are ahead of the pack in terms of creating a 5G capable phone – especially now that Huawei have announced that they will be releasing a phone in the first half of 2019!
This hasn’t come as shocking news to the mobile industry as Huawei have tended to be the first company to release innovative features as of recently; most notably, the in-screen fingerprint sensors.
However, many may be thinking ‘What about Apple?’
It’s almost guaranteed that we won’t see a 5G capable iPhone until at least the second half of 2020. But this is something that we’ve come to expect from Apple. The first iPhone launched without the capability of using 3G and 4G didn’t arrive until the iPhone 5.
The ‘wait and see’ strategy has worked for them in the past but that was because prices we’re lower, people more frequently upgraded their phones and there were less alternatives to the iPhone compared to now.
Apple’s silence on the topic have left some worried and now that the mobile industry has grown so much, Apple need to come up with something game-changing. If they don’t, what’s stopping people from moving on?
When it comes to providers, EE are the leading name in the UK. They’ve already released multiple 5G sites across London and are planning to have 16 5G cities in the UK by the end of 2019.
This will be a great achievement for EE, but they need to make sure that the roll-out of 5G is an evolution, not a revolution.
There are still many areas of the UK that have inconsistent or no 4G, plus we still don’t have the technology to utilise 5G yet.
Over half of EE’s customers have iPhones, so it will leave customers with a choice of 5G or loyalty to their handset choice and, whilst there are many alternative mobiles, 5G is unlikely to sway people’s vote unless they live in one of the 16 cities.
What is certain, is that 5G is a very exciting development and could open new doors in technology. If you want to learn more about how technology advancements could help your business, get in touch!
