The relationship of Samsung and Qualcomm is a very interesting one. They’re sort of frenemies – great collaborators who immensely benefit each other, but also compete with each other (Samsung has its own Exynos line of chipsets to compete with Snapdragons).
But more than their competition it’s the collaboration thing that’s important to both of them This became clear once again just a few days ago when both companies signed a ‘strategic relationship’ agreement, which in their own words was about:
“A multi-year strategic relationship agreement between the two companies in various technology areas and across a range of mobile devices.”
In a nutshell, it’s a gateway for both companies to get early access to each other’s latest technologies. Moreover, the official statement released by Qualcomm went on to say the following things in next line:
“This deal expands the companies’ longstanding relationship as technology and business partners this year and beyond, through the transition to 5G.”
And there you’ve it. Samsung has already acquired the keys to launch first 5G smartphone in 2019. And I think if we get into history, the things look even more confirmed. It was a little while ago when Samsung had said that it will launch its first 5G effort in 2019. And if an effort has to be made, there’s no reason to not make it with a flagship smartphone, which boils down to two devices: Galaxy S10, or Galaxy Note 10.
Now even among these two devices the chances of Galaxy S10 coming with 5G support are higher, primarily because a number of other companies are also in-line with Qualcomm to launch their own 5G smartphones by 2019. If Samsung has to beat all of them, it can’t wait till the launch of Note 10 in August.
However, if some sort of problems hinder the development process of these first few 5G smartphones, Galaxy Note 10 may also emerge as the first 5G capable device.
The Grand 10th Anniversary of Samsung
But there’s also one more reason why Galaxy S10 or Note 10 may become first 5G capable devices. Next year is the 10th anniversary of company’s both flagship smartphone lines, and Sammy will certainly want to celebrate it in style by making both these devices as powerful as possible. And in order to do that company may launch either (or both) of these devices with 5G support.
Bottom Line
5G smartphones are coming next year, and it’s very likely that the first one is going to be from Samsung. Now it will be interesting to see whether it turns out to be Galaxy S10 or Galaxy Note 10. For now all we can do is waiting till then.