The investment will go towards RF circuits, antennas and multi-media
A few days after confirming that its upcoming series of phones will all be 5G-enabled, Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus announced that the company is investing nearly $30 million to further its 5G research efforts, which the company said will focus on the scaling of 5G technology and on improving user experience.
OnePlus’ 5G labs are located in Shenzhen and Taipei and, according to the company, the additional investment will go towards the research and development in areas like radio frequency circuits, antennas and the multi-media components of devices such as cameras, displays and audio capabilities.
In addition to its China locations, OnePlus also established an R&D center in Hyderabad, India last year, which Pete Lau, founder and CEO, OnePlus told BusinessLine during an interview “will continue to be positioned as the global base for OnePlus’s operations, particularly on our 5G products.”
“I feel that by 2022, India will become the largest global software development base for OnePlus,” Lau had added.
While announcing that the new handset series, the OnePlus 8, will fully support 5G, Lau also commented that OnePlus is “going all in on 5G” and later called 5G a “top priority” for the company’s product strategy.
“We have been investing in 5G for years,” he said, “and we plan to further develop application scenarios based on the daily usage habits of users, such as cloud gaming, cloud videos and cloud storage services.”
He also referenced how quickly carriers are expanding their 5G footprint, adding that this quick rollout is providing an opportunity for OnePlus.
“We see [5G] as the direction going forward and one we’re very much committed to,” Lau stated.
