Qualcomm CEO: expect “pre-commercial” 6G devices by 2028
During his keynote speech at the 2025 Snapdragon Summit in Maui, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said:
“We have been very busy working on the next generation of connectivity…which is 6G. Designed to be the connection between the cloud and Edge devices, The difference between 5G and 6G, besides increasing the speeds, increasing broadband, increasing the amount of data, it’s also a network that has intelligence to have perception and sensor data. We’re going to have completely new use cases for this network of intelligence — connecting the edge and the cloud.”
“We have been working on this (6G) for a while, and it’s sooner than you think. We are ready to have pre-commercial devices with 6G as early as 2028. And when we get that, we’re going to have context aware intelligence at scale.”
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Analysis: Let’s examine that statement, in light of the ITU-R IMT 2030 recommendations not scheduled to be completed until the end of 2030:
“pre-commercial devices” are not meant for general consumers while “as early as” leaves open the possibility that those 6G devices might not be available until after 2028.
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Looking ahead at the future of devices, Amon noted that 6G would play a key role in the evolution of AI technology, with AI models becoming hybrid. This includes a combination of cloud and edge devices (like user interfaces, sensors, etc). According to Qualcomm, 6G will make this happen. Anon envisions a future where AI agents are a crucial part of our daily lives, upending the way we currently use our connected devices. He firmly believes that smartphones, laptops, cars, smart glasses, earbuds, and more will have a direct line of communication with these AI agents — facilitated by 6G connectivity.
Opinon: This sounds very much like the hype around 5G ushering a whole new set of ultra-low latency applications which never happened (because the 3GPP specs for URLLC were not completed in June 2020 when Release 16 was frozen.
Separately, Nokia Bell Labs has said that in the coming 6G era, “new man-machine interfaces” controlled by voice and gesture input will gradually replace more traditional inputs, like typing on touchscreens. That’s easy to read as conjecture, but we’ll have to see how it’s going come 2028.
We’re sure to see faster network speeds with higher amounts of data with 6G with AI in more devices, but standardized 6G is still at least five years from being a commercial reality.
References:
https://www.androidauthority.com/qualcomm-6g-2028-3600781/
https://www.nokia.com/6g/6g-explained/
ITU-R WP5D IMT 2030 Submission & Evaluation Guidelines vs 6G specs in 3GPP Release 20 & 21
ITU-R WP 5D reports on: IMT-2030 (“6G”) Minimum Technology Performance Requirements; Evaluation Criteria & Methodology
ITU-R: IMT-2030 (6G) Backgrounder and Envisioned Capabilities
Ericsson and e& (UAE) sign MoU for 6G collaboration vs ITU-R IMT-2030 framework
Highlights of 3GPP Stage 1 Workshop on IMT 2030 (6G) Use Cases
6th Digital China Summit: China to expand its 5G network; 6G R&D via the IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group
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