Samsung Galaxy S10 5G now available in US

Stepping up the rollout of the 5G smartphone in the global market, Samsung said its Galaxy S10 5G is now selling in the US markets to run on Verizon's network in Chicago and Minneapolis.

The South Korean giant launched its first 5G smartphone on home turf early in April and has introduced the device in the US with Verizon at a starting price of $1,300.

Verizon has been selling the Moto Z3, a 4G smartphone that can connect to 5G with an attachment, since April, but the latest Galaxy series is the first dedicated 5G phone in the US with an embedded modem and chipset for the new network standard, Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.

Samsung launched three variants of the Galaxy S10 in the US in March, and the 5G model completes the flagship series in the major market.

The world's largest smartphone vendor is also set to release its 5G device in seven countries in Europe with major telecoms, starting from Britain on June 7.

Samsung is expected to launch its 5G smartphone in China later in 2019 in partnership with a local carrier, according to industry officials.

The company has promoted its "end-to-end 5G solution", stressing its commercialization expertise in South Korea and the US to lead the 5G network market.

The South Korean giant claims a competitive edge with its own network solutions, including the Exynos line of 5G modems and radio frequency (RF) chips for 5G smartphones.

Samsung's bid to highlight its 5G solutions also comes at a time when Huawei has been under heavy attack from the US government, which is raising security concerns over its 5G equipment.

"With the advent of 4G, speed was the only key improvement, but it is different with 5G," Choi Won-joon, head of the flagship R&D team, said.

"We consider 5G technology to be a key underlying technology that can enable a truly new, non-mobile-exclusive broadband market."