5G phone may cost over 8,000 RMB

China Mobile recently revealed their 5G business plan for next year, focusing on the scale test of 5G terminals. They plan to launch a friendly user test in September and scale up in December.

China Mobile expects to test more than 30 5G terminals during the pre-commercial phase. The 5G mobile phone is expected to cost more than 8,000 yuan (about 1,161 U.S. dollars), and the price of data terminals could be more than 3,000 yuan.

[File photo: VCG]

Shen Yiren, vice president of OPPO, spoke during the China Mobile Global Partnership Conference saying that the upcoming 5G mobile phone is not cheap. The main reason is that related technologies such as chips and components are still in the early stages. Prices will be lower once they've been streamlined in the future.

However, telecommunications operators point out that with the growing number of 5G terminals in 2020 -- up to 60 commercial terminals can be expected on the market -- it's possible the price of 5G mobile phones will be reduced by more than 1,000 yuan.

Three major Chinese mobile companies have announced their eligibility for 5G frequency testing. China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom have confirmed their 5G frequency tests have been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China. 5G is expected to be widely tested next year during the pre-commercial phase and officially adopted for commercial use in 2020.