OnePlus, Qualcomm plan to start 5G trials in India

Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus Wednesday said it plans to work with chipset maker Qualcomm on 5G trials in India.

Premium device maker had displayed its first 5G prototype smartphone powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 mobile platform at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.

In a statement, OnePlus said it will be "amongst the first OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to launch smartphones powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 mobile platform in India, and plans to work with Qualcomm on 5G trials".

However, it did not provide any details further.

"We have been loyal to Qualcomm's 800-series Snapdragon chipsets since the release of our very first flagship device. This strong partnership with Qualcomm makes us believe that we could bring the best 5G device to the world," OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau said.

OnePlus said it began research on the new-age 5G technology in 2016 and a year later, it started working with Qualcomm on OnePlus' 5G device development.

In October last year, OnePlus rolled out the world's first 5G tweet by connecting a prototype device to a 5G non-standalone network.

The Chinese player cornered the largest share of the premium smartphone segment in India during the December 2018 quarter with 36 per cent share, ahead of rivals like Samsung and Apple.

OnePlus had entered the Indian market in 2014 and started selling its devices through Amazon India. While initially the company had an invitation-based model, it opened up sales to larger public with subsequent launches.