Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo has announced plans to boost its spending on research and development on 5G technologies, including applications outside of its core smartphone products. The company aims to take advantage of the commercial launch of next-generation 5G networks in China to boost its overall bottom line.
Oppo founder and chief executive officer, Tony Chen Yongming, mentioned in his speech on Tuesday that the company plans to invest over $7.1 billion in 5G research and development over the next three years. The executive's speech was made during the company's Inno Day Event, an annual global tech convention held by the company to showcase its latest innovations.
Chen also mentioned during his speech that the arrival of 5G in China completely changes the market as it will essentially provide a major business opportunity for companies who are fast enough to take advantage. The arrival of 5G in China is expected to start a new the information revolution that will transform all worldwide industries.
Apart from its smartphone products, Chen also emphasized how Oppo will be growing beyond just being a smartphone company by introducing products that can tap in the opportunities brought by 5G technology. The the company plans to develop new 5G-enabled devices, including smart display, augmented reality glasses, and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
The commitment to increase its spending on 5G research and development is yet another big promise by the company, which had already doubled its investments this year. The company had increased its R&D investments this year to over 10 billion yuan this year, more than double its 4 billion yuan investment in 2018.
The company's rapid growth and its increasing investments have landed it the fifth spot in the top global smartphone brands, right behind Samsung, Huawei, Apple, and Xiaomi. The aforementioned companies, along with smaller players, are now all scrambling to invest in 5G, racing to release new 5G-enabled products that take advantage of the the massive increase in bandwidth, reduced latency, and increased capacity provided by the next-generation communications technology.
China will, of course, be the main battleground for these companies as it is one of the first countries to have established a nationwide 5G network. Last month, China launched its commercial 5G service in over 50 major cities with plans to add more than 130,000 more 5G base stations by the end of the year. Analysts estimate that the country could have more than 600 million 5G users by 2025.
