After The Arrival Of 6G And Metaverse, Smartphones 'Will Not Anymore Be The Most Common Interface'

Pekka Lundmark
President and CEO of Nokia

When 4G broadband connection was first introduced, it allowed the world to embrace mobile internet. At the time, usage of smartphones and smart devices multiplied, and tech companies started to develop apps for those ever-eager consumers.

Fast-forward, 4G allows the ease of videoconferencing, tele-presence and rich media collaboration. It allows people to upload large files, continuously load endless streams of content on their feed, and many more.

When 5G was introduced, the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks, the world began to benefit from speed that is up to 10x faster than median speeds of 4G LTE.

Just as 3G and 4G enabled new experiences, 5G allows users to have a seamless music and video streaming experiences, high-resolution media sharing, and many more. It also allows the development of driverless cars and virtual reality.

This happened because the 5G implementation has provided a massive technological jump over its predecessors.

And when the world is expecting 6G, the CEO of Nokia shares some of his thoughts.

Pekka Lundmark.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Pekka Lundmark believes that the world shall soon get rid of smartphones.

Going forward after the introduction of 6G, Lundmark said that people will replace their smartphones with smart glasses and some other devices.

"Right now, we’re all building 5G networks, as we know, but by the time quantum computing is maturing for commercial applications, we’re going to be talking about 6G."

"By then, [2030], definitely the smartphone as we know it today will not anymore be the most common interface."

Realizing that smart devices may no longer come in the form of smartphones people put inside their pockets or purses, Lundmark added that:

"Many of these things will be built directly into our bodies."

When 6G hits the market, the world will experience the "industrial metaverse" that expands across the tech industry.

This industrial metaverse "could include models similar to comprehensive, detailed digital twins of objects that exist in reality,"

According to Lundmark, this can happen because the "physical world and the digital world will grow together."

This is the result of users going into the Virtual Reality (VR) world, flipping a switch or turning a dial, and at the same time changing something in the real, physical world.

To make all that happen, transmitting all the computers data through the metaverse will need a huge amount of resources.

Networks will need to be at least 100 times or even 1,000 times faster than they are today, Lundmark said.

This is where 6G will play its role.

But surely, at this point, it's hard for anyone to imagine a world without smartphones. But let's not forget the fact that smartphones only began their duties as life changing devices since the advent of 4G.

When Lundmark spoke at WEF 2022, he knows that the arrival of 6G is imminent.