Qualcomm’s president, Cristiano Amon, said in an opening video address to the IFA consumer technology fair in Berlin that the move will mean that 5G will finally get into the hands of those who can’t afford a flagship phone.

Amon also announced a 5G platform to support ‘always on, always connected’ laptops that are increasingly in demand among people working at home who need fast, secure connections to log in to company networks or join video conference calls.

Qualcomm, the world’s biggest supplier of mobile phone chips, says 5G networks - which enable ultra-fast downloads and run connected devices and factories - are being built far faster than previously expected.

More than 80 mobile operators have deployed 5G, Amon said, forecasting that 750 million 5G smartphones would ship in 2022 and that 5G connections would top one billion a year later - two years faster than was the case with 4G.

At last year’s IFA, Qualcomm made a splash by launching 5G chipsets for mid-priced phones. The Snapdragon 4 product completes its 5G range, targeting a potential audience of over 3.5 billion people.

Smartphone makers Motorola, OPPO and Xiaomi have signed up to make 5G phones with Snapdragon 4.

Qualcomm is also partnering with Taiwan’s Acer to market 5G-enabled PCs running on the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G platform, featuring multi-day battery life, enterprise-level security and high-end cameras and audio.