Samsung Will Not Support MmWave in New Foldables
Samsung and South Korean carriers continue to exclude 28GHz 5G (mmWave) both from upcoming foldable smartphones and from a residential customer standpoint, leaving that bandwidth for B2B services, despite Apple’s adoption in the iPhone 12 and potentially in the iPhone 13. While this is the case in South Korea, where mmWave 5G roll-out has been slow and has received only lukewarm support from the government, with the carriers citing the increased cost burden of mmWave roll-outs on consumers, Apple’s support of the faster technology has given US carriers, particularly Verizon (VZ) an incentive to add such infrastructure,, despite its higher cost. Given the competitive nature of carriers in the US, the ‘need for speed’ is a subscriber selling point, although average 5G speeds in the US don’t always reflect mmWave’s higher throughput.
It is surprising that Samsung continues to hold off implementing mmWave 5G however, due to the fact that the application processor that is expected in the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 (Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon 888) are equipped with 28GHz functionality, but it seems in order to cut costs Samsung has removed the 28GHz antenna structures, eliminating mmWave capabilities, despite the AP’s ability to utilize those frequencies.. While the IPhone does not dictate policy to South Korean carriers, the fact that Apple continues to see value in the mmWave bands would be expected to make some difference, however there are less than 100 mmWave sites in South Korea, with most in industrial parks or at public attractions, and it seems they are unwilling to add much to that infrastructure at least this year based on their comments. Samsung, of course, did not answer the question as to whether the new phones would be mmWave capable, but said, ”It is difficult to confirm the pre-launch products such as the Galaxy Z Fold 3 with regard to whether they are equipped with millimeter waves.”. The perfect non-answer.
Speaking of Samsung, the President of Samsung’s Mobile Division confirmed in a blog that there will be no new Galaxy Note series, and while this supposedly answers the question that has been rumored for some time, we take this as a ‘today’ statement, which could be modified if necessary. It was stated that a major function of the Note series, the S-Pen, would be pushed deeper into the Samsung Galaxy line, and that the Galaxy Z Fold would be among those, which has been rumored for some time as we have previously noted. That we believe…
It is surprising that Samsung continues to hold off implementing mmWave 5G however, due to the fact that the application processor that is expected in the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 (Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon 888) are equipped with 28GHz functionality, but it seems in order to cut costs Samsung has removed the 28GHz antenna structures, eliminating mmWave capabilities, despite the AP’s ability to utilize those frequencies.. While the IPhone does not dictate policy to South Korean carriers, the fact that Apple continues to see value in the mmWave bands would be expected to make some difference, however there are less than 100 mmWave sites in South Korea, with most in industrial parks or at public attractions, and it seems they are unwilling to add much to that infrastructure at least this year based on their comments. Samsung, of course, did not answer the question as to whether the new phones would be mmWave capable, but said, ”It is difficult to confirm the pre-launch products such as the Galaxy Z Fold 3 with regard to whether they are equipped with millimeter waves.”. The perfect non-answer.
Speaking of Samsung, the President of Samsung’s Mobile Division confirmed in a blog that there will be no new Galaxy Note series, and while this supposedly answers the question that has been rumored for some time, we take this as a ‘today’ statement, which could be modified if necessary. It was stated that a major function of the Note series, the S-Pen, would be pushed deeper into the Samsung Galaxy line, and that the Galaxy Z Fold would be among those, which has been rumored for some time as we have previously noted. That we believe…
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