In the wake of Qualcomm’s announcement of the Snapdragon 855 processor, which will power the first 5G-ready smartphones, OnePlus’ CEO Pete Lau sat down with CNET for an interviewed and revealed some info about its own upcoming 5G effort.
According to Lau, the 5G handset should make a commercial debut before the end of May next year. The company plans to price it as affordable as possible, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be cheap. Actually, the 5G model will probably be the most expensive phone in OnePlus’ portfolio, to be sold for around $750 or so.
This is one of the reasons why OnePlus does not expect the phone to be a very big hit on the market. Instead, the company views this as an investment for the future, a way of securing a footing in the budding 5G market. As Lau himself admits “by 2020 it could already be very different”.
Releasing a 5G phone ahead of the pack also means the that OnePlus engineers and the product development team will get a head start on how to best develop a no-compromise premium 5G device.
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At this point, we also know OnePlus’ 5G phone will hit Europe first in partnership with UK carrier EE. And as confirmed by Lau’s talk with CNET, the handset is not the OnePlus 7, but a different device.
In a separate interview, this time for PCMag, OnePlus’ CEO revealed that he’s seeing a big demand for smartphones with a smaller display. Although the tiny battery life issue is what’s preventing the company from actually making and selling one.
