Qualcomm's contrarian call: Bets on faster adoption of 5G phones in India

The US chipset maker plans to stay a step ahead of the market by launching products to power cheaper smartphones even before services are launched

In popular perception, the impending upgrade to 5G telecom services is for premium subscribers. Qualcomm Inc hopes to change that notion in India. Working on the “5G for all” mantra, the San Diego, California-based chip designer is getting ready to launch its upcoming Snapdragon 400 chipset some time in this quarter to mobile manufacturers in India that could reduce the cost of 5G phones to below Rs 15,000.

“I may be making a bold statement on behalf of the industry, but by 2022 the majority of the smart phones in India would be 5G in both the upper and lower