Huawei launches its own 5G chip

Huawei doesn’t feel like waiting for chip companies to get their act together on 5G so it has decided to make one of its own.

The Balong 5000 was launched in Beijing today. It supports all the previous generations of cellular technology as well as all the 5G frequencies. Huawei says it can deliver 4.6 Gbps at sub-6 Ghz and 6.5 Gbps over millimeter wave. It also claims to be the first chip to support both standalone and non-standalone 5G architectures and the first to support V2X communications.

“The Balong 5000 will open up a whole new world to consumers,” said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group. “It will enable everything to sense, and will provide the high-speed connections needed for pervasive intelligence.”

Huawei also launched the 5G CPR Pro, a 5G router that uses wifi 6 technology to claim speeds of almost 5 Gbps. “Powered by the Balong 5000, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro enables consumers to access networks more freely and enjoy an incredibly fast connected experience,” said Yu. “Huawei has an integrated set of capabilities across chips, devices, cloud services, and networks. Building on these strengths, as the leader of the 5G era, we will bring an inspired, intelligent experience to global consumers in every aspect of their lives.”

Not content with attacking the consumer market, Huawei also launched the Tiangang 5G base station chip. It too lays claim to having all the bells and whistles, including the ability to control 64 beamforming channels, enhanced computing capacity and greater power efficiency.

“Huawei now has industry-leading capabilities to deliver end-to-end 5G, with simplified 5G networks and simplified operations & maintenance,” said said Ryan Ding, Huawei Executive Director of the Board and Carrier Business Group CEO. “We are leading the commercial rollout of 5G, and building a mature industry ecosystem.”

These launches come at a good time for Huawei, considering all the negative publicity it has been getting recently. Yu used the launch event to make some pretty bullish statements, including his belief that Huawei will overtake Samsung to become the world’s number one smartphone vendor before long. He also teased the launch of a foldable 5G phone at MWC in a month’s time.