Redmi Will Launch 5G Smartphone In 2020, Only Rs 20,000

Redmi - a sub-brand of Xiaomi, is already on the way to launch a smartphone with not only 5G technology but also an affordable price in the next year. The information came after the general manager of Redmi Lu Weibing wrote a post on Weibo that hinted about the company's upcoming 5G phones. According to his post, those will be ready in the second half of 2019, starting at around 2,000 CNY (appx~ Rs 20,000). Besides, Xiaomi-owned Black Shark could also debut its own 5G smartphone soon.

At present, other big names have already rolled out its 5G phones, including Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung, and OnePlus. However, those smartphones are placed in the premium segment, which means that they have skyrocketing prices of some sort. According to a Canalys's report, the number of 5G smartphones will exceed half of all shipments in the smartphone market by 2023, clocking at a predicted 800 million units. It should be further noted that the 5G infrastructure in many countries is yet to ready at present.

In the meantime, more than one million Galaxy S10 5G devices had been reportedly sold in South Korea - the home market of Samsung. As for India, trials are even yet to begin here, so a complete 5G connectivity won't likely come to the country until 2021 or later. Of course, when 5G becomes a standard and more mainstream, consumers can benefit from more 5G smartphones with lower entry points.

In fact, another player in the Indian market has made an announcement saying that its 5G phones will soon be ready even though 5G services in India are not up to par with them. It's still unclear about when the phone will be launched or a ballpark price, however, the price is expected to be affordable due to the company's tradition in India.

The analyst firm Canalys predicted that the 5G smartphones will soon take over 4G smartphones in the coming years. As an MWC Shanghai attendee said - "4G changes life, 5G changes society".