Huawei Is Set To Deliver World's First 8K TV With Integrated 5G Connectivity

Huawei is a Chinese company mostly known for smartphones and networking hardware that aren't widely available in the U.S. The reason that Huawei products aren't offered here has to do with an ongoing feud between Huawei and the U.S. government over Huawei's close ties to the Chinese government, something Huawei has denied. However, a major telecommunications company recently found hidden backdoors in Huawei's networking hardware, which basically proves-out the U.S. government's claims. Despite not being available in the States, Huawei has done well in the smartphone market globally, muscling past Apple to become the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. Today we learn news that the company is about to expand it's consumer electronics portfolio even further.

Huawei is pushing hard into next-gen 5G mobile networking technology and already has 5G tech gear for cars. It has now announced that it will be putting that 5G networking technology in a place you might least expect - an 8K TV. Huawei plans to ship an 8K resolution TV with 5G connectivity integrated this year, according to sources cited by Nikkei that claim to be familiar with its plans. This would be Huawei's first turn at making its own TVs, as it pushes into a broader ecosystem of consumer electronics.

Huawei hasn't sold its own branded TV before, but it is no stranger to the TV market. It is the world's second largest provider of TV chipsets through its Hisilicon Technologies chip arm. Only MediaTek is ahead of it in the TV chipset market. Huawei supplies its TV chipset to Hisense, Sharp, Skyworth, and Changhong. Samsung is currently the top supplier of 8K panels, but Huawei could get panels from Chinese suppliers BOE Technology Group and China Star Optoelectronics Technology.

Huawei's 8K 5G TV is a doubling down on technologies that currently have little support in most markets. 5G tech is in its infancy but is shaping up to be a battleground for future consumer spending, as is 8K in the display and TV markets. Currently, there is no 8K programming, but most 8K TVs are capable of upscaling 4K content to 8K resolution; presumably this Huawei TV would be capable of that. There is no indication of specifications on the TV right now. However, the TV would be capable of sharing its 5G connectivity with other devices in the home, acting as a 5G hub.

Huawei also stated that it intends to become a top 5 PC maker by 2021. The source claims that Huawei will eventually even build its own CPUs for the laptops. With the continuing feud between the U.S. government and Huawei, the TV and other future Huawei products are unlikely to be available in traditional U.S. retail channels.