CES isn't exactly known as the showcase for smartphones. Instead, the Las Vegas-based consumer tech show sets the tone of the industry with its massive oversized 219-inch TVs, Smart 8K TVs, next-generation computers, and laptops, as well as cutting edge self-driving vehicles. CES is known for many things, and smartphones aren't really one of them, because the next Samsung and Apple phone probably won't be coming until the next Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
But despite the glaring lack of 5G phones, or at the very least a relative dearth of them, 5G will still be one of the hottest topics of CES 2020 because it's going to be in everything else.
5G in CES 2020
Despite all its hype in CES 2019, 5G hasn't quite lived up to its promise. It isn't because it failed, or that 5G isn't a big technological revolution, because it is. Technology like 5G takes time to roll out and is very expensive in the meantime. Only some major cities offer 5G support, and what little 5G devices are available are all very expensive. But these are simply growing pains, and Qualcomm already expects 450 million 5G smartphones by 2021, and 750 million more sold in 2022.
That isn't to say that 5G smartphones won't be present at all at CES 2020. OnePlus has already teased a concept phone with an invisible camera that they will be bringing to CES 2020. Samsung and LG will be featuring their latest in 8K TVs and other technologies, and will surely feature some of their current 5G mobiles while they're at it. Another TV manufacturer TCL, who is known for cheap Roku-powered Smart TVs, will also be releasing a new phone, possibly the TCL Plex. But the biggest names such as the next Galaxy S11 5G will be coming out on Samsung Event or the Mobile World Congress at the earliest.
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5G Big and Small
Instead, 5G will be present in non-smartphone things. We're already expecting 5G, and WiFI 6 will be the next big leap in the Internet of Things (IoT) world. High speeds, low power consumption, high bandwidth, these are the things that 5G and WiFi 6 will be bringing to the table to allow for a more connected world.
Announced earlier in a Samsung Newsroom post, HS Kim, President, and CEO of Consumer Electronics Division, will personally be presenting their latest achievements in 5G, AI, and IoT. In what they coin as "the Age of Experience," innovations that allow for better human and technology with the assistance of an "intelligent companion". Non-smartphone Samsung devices are now interconnected via the IoT, and with the help of AI to manage each device, it believes that these innovations will be the most impactful technologies in our lifetime.
Samsung, and many other tech giants, will rely on the new speed and bandwidth afforded by 5G and WiFi 6 to be able to connect every device, big and small. Very soon, we're going to start larger applications for the technology--from the smallest phone modems to smart 5G capable coffee makers, cars, and even 5G capable infrastructure in cities.
