Word on the street is that Apple is going to wait until 2020 before it launches a 5G iPhone, but that doesn’t mean consumers don’t think the company is going to lead in that technology.

According to a new survey published by PCMag on Monday, which polled 2,500 consumers in the United States, the majority believe that Apple is going to “lead in 5G”. Specifically, the results show that 42% of the respondents believe Apple will lead in the next-generation wireless technology (which will probably be sticking around for quite a while), while Samsung came in second with 29 percent.

Meanwhile, consumers aren’t too confident in Google with 5G, as only 7% of respondents believe the company will be the leader. LG managed to earn 12% of the vote! Huawei, which is launching a 5G foldable phone this month, only earned 5%. It’s also worth noting that, in the markets where it’s still allowed to, Huawei is actually helping build 5G infrastructure.

Per the report:

“The result from an exclusive PCMag survey of 2,500 US consumers shows Apple’s unstoppable brand power in the US. Even as Apple sales have cratered in China, the company’s reputation appears to be intact in its home market. Only 11 percent of iPhone owners surveyed said they would switch away from the iPhone for 5G.”

Wireless carriers will have 5G network availability for consumers this year, but it won’t be widespread by any means. That won’t happen until a more thorough rollout can happen later this year and throughout 2020. That isn’t going to stop Android manufacturers from jumping on the 5G bandwagon right away, though. As mentioned above Huawei is building a 5G phone, and Samsung will probably be the first out of the gate with its high-end 5G handset, too. LG is even rumored to be working on a 5G smartphone.

But Apple? Well, while the company at least toy with the idea of launching 5G iPhones in 2019, that appears to not be the plan any longer. Now, the company is expected to launch 5G-enabled iPhones in 2020. That would line up with Intel’s 5G modem ambitions. Still, some analysts believe Apple will be tapping Qualcomm for 5G modems, too.

The original report states that “Americans think Apple leads in 5G”, but I think it’s worth pointing out here that at face value the survey asks, “Which phone company will lead in 5G?” That will is important, because it suggests that these respondents believe that in the future Apple will be leading the way with the wireless technology. That doesn’t necessarily mean Apple needs to be first, though.

Besides, even if that isn’t the case, Apple’s turtle-speed adoption hasn’t hurt it in the past. As noted in the original report, Apple didn’t adopt 4G until a couple of years after the primary competition. While it doesn’t sound like it will be a two-year wait this time around, Apple is not going to be first (again) in this regard.

[via PCMag]








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