Samsung sees the fifth generation (5G) of mobile networks as an opportunity to strengthen its position in the wireless infrastructure market in the United States where it’s still a relatively small player despite being involved in a wide variety of trials and research pertaining to this emerging technology. In a recent interview with FierceWireless, Samsung Electronics Vice President of the Next Generation Business Team said that while the company has yet to see a significant increase in purchase orders and related revenue from 5G, it’s firmly convinced that its involvement in this segment is helping it grow its business in the long term. Woojune Kim noted how Samsung’s network business in the U.S. grew with the introduction of CDMA and 4G LTE technologies, noting how he expects to observe a similar trend as 5G sees more widespread adoption and eventual nationwide commercialization in the country.
Nationwide deployment of 5G infrastructure still isn’t a requirement for Samsung to strengthen its position in a significant manner thanks to 5G, with some industry watchers pointing out how the very nature of the technology and its reliance on small cell solutions make it possible for 5G wireless infrastructure to be rolled out in an extremely fragmentized manner if needed, meaning Samsung could take a notable portion of the market in the country even without previously having a large foothold in the segment. Mr. Kim was also asked about the availability of 3.5GHz CBRS handsets in the U.S. but didn’t share any concrete details on the matter, having only noted that such mobile devices are to be commercialized stateside in the near future.
The South Korean original equipment manufacturer had a major presence at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Americas held earlier this month, with the company showcasing a broad range of new 5G technologies and solutions that it intends to provide to its clients in the medium term. Charter is one of the company’s more high-profile partners in the country which helps it conduct 5G trials, whereas Samsung’s networking division also does business with Verizon. The company’s next major announcements related to its 5G endeavors may come as early as Q1 2018 and be made at MWC 2018 in Barcelona, Spain.