During the first day of the annual Snapdragon Tech Summit, Qualcomm Incorporated President, Cristiano Amon took to the stage to declare 2020 as the year 5G will go mainstream and unveiled new Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G mobile platforms.

“5G will open new and exciting opportunities to connect, compute, and communicate in ways we’ve yet to imagine and we are happy to be a key player driving the adoption of 5G around the world,” said Amon. “Our Snapdragon 5G mobile platforms announced today will continue to show leadership in the industry and deliver on the promise of scaling 5G in 2020.”

Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager, mobile, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., unveiled two new 5G Snapdragon mobile platforms to lead and scale 5G and AI in 2020. The flagship Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform, which includes the Snapdragon X55 Modem-RF System, is designed to deliver connectivity and performance for the next generation of flagship devices. The Snapdragon 765/765G bring integrated 5G connectivity, AI processing and select Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gaming experiences. Qualcomm expects Snapdragon 865 and 765/765G to power the most advanced Android-based smartphones launching in 2020 – regardless of whether users are in 5G or 4G coverage.

Katouzian said the Snapdragon 865 offers a 25% performance improvement when compared to the Snapdragon 855, along with of double AI engine performance (15TOPS).

Chinese phone brands Xiaomi and Oppo said they will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chip in devices they plan to launch in the first quarter of next year.

Lin Bin – Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of the Board, Xiaomi Corporation, announced that Xiaomi’s Mi 10 will be one of the first flagship smartphones to utilize the Snapdragon 865. Simultaneously, Xiaomi’s Redmi brand general manager Lu Weibing also announced the Redmi K30 smartphone series will be one of the first to feature.

Lin Bin announced that the Xiaomi’s next flagship, Mi 10, will be released in the first quarter of next year.

As one of Xiaomi’s two brands, Redmi will be one of the first mobile phone brands to utilize Qualcomm Technologies’ new 5G Snapdragon 765 with integrated 5G, and will officially release the Redmi K30 series featuring Snapdragon 765 on December 10.

Redmi will launch a new 5G phone – Redmi K30 within a week. In terms of product design, Redmi K30 features a Dual DotDisplay with ultra-small punch-hole design that enables a fullscreen experience.

Xiaomi and Oppo, both based in China, were the fourth and fifth biggest smartphone sellers in the world in the third quarter, according to research firm IDC.

Katouzian also introduced our first family of mobile platform-based modules, the Snapdragon 865 and 765 Modular Platforms. These modular platforms are products designed to enable OEMs scale 5G with ease, offering lower development costs while also more quickly commercializing products with new industrial designs for mobile and IoT devices. The first carriers announcing support of the certification program for Snapdragon Modular Platforms are Verizon and Vodafone, with more expected in 2020.

Katouzian also announced 3D Sonic Max, the latest version of Qualcomm's ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. 3D Sonic Max offers a recognition area that is 17x larger than the previous generation, allowing for increased security via simultaneous two-finger authentication, increased speed and ease of use.