Qualcomm targets 6G commercialisation from 2029

TL;DR: Qualcomm said at MWC Shanghai 2026 that it expects pre-commercial 6G devices in 2028 and 6G commercialisation from 2029. Qualcomm SVP John Smee linked that timeline to 3GPP Release 21, which is due for initial approval in March 2027. Qualcomm said it sees 6G as supporting AI across data centres, telecom network edge infrastructure, and devices.

Qualcomm said at MWC Shanghai 2026 that it expects pre-commercial 6G devices as soon as 2028 and 6G commercialisation from 2029. The company presented 6G as the wireless technology it expects to support AI use cases in the next network generation.

Qualcomm SVP John Smee said 6G will support what he described as context-aware AI across voice interfaces, glasses, and watches, with AI acting as a user interface. Smee said 6G would connect computing resources from the data centre to the telecom edge and to the device.

John Smee said Qualcomm’s confidence in a 2029 commercialisation timeline is based on 3GPP Release 21, the next set of mobile standards work, which is due for initial approval in March 2027. Mobile World Live said Smee’s comments echoed remarks by Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon at Computex in Taiwan, where Amon described 6G as an AI-native network connecting devices and data centres.