SIMCom Has Invested Over RMB 500 Million in 5G and Is Expected to Launch R16 Standard Modules Next Year

By AIT News Desk On Aug 28, 2020

The 5G era will see a smart world where everything is truly connected. Modules are extremely important as they connect upstream standard chips and downstream highly fragmented vertical applications. Luo Xiaoyan, the vice president of SIMCom, shared his opinion.

Luo Xiaoyan shared: In 2020, the market capacity of 5G IoT terminals will reach about 5 million. Generally, communication modules are needed for non-mobile cellular IoT terminals to get connected. The freezing of R16 standard means the official completion of 5G’s first evolution. Applications including automatic drive and industrial IoT will be achieved sooner, further realizing customers’ imagination on 5G.

“SIMCom is actively planning for the R16 standard modules and are expected to be launched next year.” Luo Xiaoyan predicted optimistically, “There is heavy demand for 5G modules. We have lots of orders ready for delivery.”

Despite a bright market future, the research and development of 5G modules in the initial commercial stage will still face many challenges.

“Due to multiple frequency bands, the research and development of 5G modules face challenges mainly from RF performance and heat dissipation. We need to make breakthroughs with technological development and innovation.” Luo Xiaoyan said, “5G R&D investments are mostly made in researchers, developers, new tools and equipment. Currently, SIMCom has invested over RMB 500 Million in 5G R&D.”

In addition, the price of 5G modules is relatively high. Customers in the industry are in urgent need of lower-priced 5G modules to reduce costs and facilitate large-scale deployment. In Luo Xiaoyan’s view, the price of modules is strongly related to the quantity of modules. As 5G applications become increasingly widespread and the quantity of 5G modules grows, the price of modules will gradually decrease. Meanwhile, SIMCom is also actively reducing costs by using more cost-effective components to reduce the cost of 5G modules. Meanwhile, SIMCom is deploying the China Core Project. It’s currently negotiating 5G module partnership with a number of chip manufacturers.