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Samsung shipped 6.7 million 5G phones last year
The company will release a 5G tablet early this year as well.
Samsung has confirmed its plans to release a Galaxy Tab S6 model with 5G in the coming months, and it also announced that it sold 6.7 million 5G phones in 2019. The 5G-capable version of the hybrid tablet, which first popped up on the tech giant's Korean website on Christmas, will be available in Korea in the first quarter of 2020. It could become the world's first 5G tablet if Samsung beats rivals that are also developing similar devices, like Huawei.
The company didn't mention a release date for the rest of the world, though, and it also didn't say if the device has markedly different features and components from the original Tab S6. Since Samsung used a photo of the tablet's non-5G sibling on its Korean website, it may have a similar design and specs.
Samsung made the revelation in an announcement of its 5G phone shipment figures for 2019. It shipped more than 6.7 million Galaxy 5G smartphones around the world, and it said its devices accounted for 53.9 percent of the global market as of November 2019. The company currently has five 5G phones on offer: Galaxy S10 5G, Note10 5G, Note10+ 5G, Galaxy A90 5G and Galaxy Fold 5G.
Neil Shah, VP of Research at Counterpoint Research, said 5G smartphones only contributed 1 percent to the total global smartphone sales of 2019, but 2020 will be the breakout year for the devices. "With tremendous 5G growth opportunities on the horizon, Samsung, over the next decade, is in a great position to capitalize by further investing and building on the early lead and momentum," he added.
