6G is booming, so why are companies still saying "it hurts"? Core components are "bottlenecked," and application ecosystems are "hollowed out"—challenges to overcome | Live coverage of the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum

Financial Association reported on March 28 (Reporter Guo Songqiao) “When will 6G actually arrive?” “Will phones be more expensive after it comes?” “Are we technically ready?” These questions have garnered significant attention at the ongoing 2026 Zhongguancun Forum’s parallel forum on 6G technology and industrial innovation.

For the second consecutive year, the government work report has listed 6G as a key future industry to be nurtured, with continued top-level signals being released, igniting industry enthusiasm: capital is pouring in, companies are competing to lay out their plans, and local governments are rolling out support policies. The Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area is providing up to 30 million yuan in funding support for companies undertaking major national 6G scientific and technological tasks, while Shanghai has proposed to establish a national comprehensive trial base for 6G.

However, beneath the excitement, a deeper issue is surfacing: where exactly is the 6G industry in its journey from technological research and development to commercial realization? What bottlenecks still exist?

With these questions in mind, Financial Association reporters interviewed key experts deeply involved in the development of China’s 6G industry, including Chen Shanzhi, Deputy General Manager and Chief Engineer of China Information and Communication Technology Group Co., Ltd., Zhang Ping, Counselor of the State Council and Professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and Huang Yuhong, Director of Zhongguancun Pan-Link Institute and President of China Mobile Research Institute, in an attempt to restore the current reality of the 6G industry.

Industry Bottleneck: Core Components “Choke Points,” Application Ecosystem “Hollowing Out”

6G has once again been included in the government work report this year, and the industry’s enthusiasm is high.

However, during interviews, reporters discovered that the 6G industry still faces multiple bottlenecks from technology development to commercial realization.

The most prominent issues are found in the core components. At the forum, a technical leader from a telecommunications company revealed to reporters that core hardware required for 6G, such as terahertz RF chips and high-precision sensors, currently still relies heavily on imports.

“Our company wants to create a prototype for 6G, but the high-end RF front-end modules are still primarily dependent on imports, with procurement cycles lasting 3 to 6 months, and prices being tightly controlled by foreign suppliers. As a result, the company’s R&D progress has been delayed by at least six months,” the leader admitted.

Senior telecommunications analyst Guo Tao pointed out in an interview with Financial Association that there are still shortcomings in core components such as RF chips and baseband chips, as well as basic software in China, which to some extent restricts the autonomy of the industry chain. 6G is a deep integration of communications, artificial intelligence, aerospace, and materials science; terahertz transmission has significant loss, which not only imposes strict requirements on chips and raw materials but also affects the collaborative efficiency of integrated terrestrial and aerial networks.

Even more challenging is the risk of a “hollowing out” application ecosystem. Financial Association reporters learned from research that currently, China’s 6G patent applications account for 40.3% of the global total, maintaining the world’s leading position. While the technological reserves seem sufficient, the truly realizable commercial scenarios remain unclear.

A founder of a company applying for 6G R&D projects candidly told reporters, “What we fear most now is the deadlock of ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg’—massive investment in technology R&D, but users are hesitant to use it, so the network cannot be built; if the network cannot be built, prices cannot be lowered; if prices cannot be lowered, users are even less willing to use it. We need policy support in the early stages.”

Breaking the Deadlock: Parallel Policy Support and Technological Innovation

In the face of industry bottlenecks, a “combination punch” is forming from the national to local levels, and from research institutions to enterprises.

On the policy front, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has launched the second phase of 6G technology testing, following the first phase which has established over 300 key technology reserves. The Shanghai Stock Exchange also held a future industry salon titled “6G: The Digital Foundation Connecting Air and Earth” in March this year, gathering nearly 30 listed companies and industry chain-related enterprises to jointly promote high-quality development of the 6G industry.

In terms of technological breakthroughs, Huang Yuhong shared with reporters China Mobile’s approach to breaking the deadlock. She revealed that the Zhongguancun Pan-Link Institute, jointly initiated by China Mobile and Beijing Municipality, is creating an open innovation platform for the deep integration of 6G sensory computing.

“We are building the basic capabilities for 6G and opening it up for numerous research institutions and enterprises to conduct technical experiments and validations,” Huang Yuhong told reporters, noting that this platform has already achieved end-to-end testing with VIVO prototype terminals and Datang RF connections.

This directly addresses industry concerns about “insufficient cross-industry collaboration.” Guo Tao pointed out that the current construction of the 6G ecosystem is still primarily focused on the telecommunications technology sector, with low substantive participation from vertical industries (such as robotics, automotive, drones), making it difficult to form cross-industry collaboration. The open platform of Zhongguancun Pan-Link Institute aims to break this barrier.

Huang Yuhong also emphasized the importance of a closed-loop for 6G commercialization. “Real success in development must have commercial significance,” she stated, noting that China Mobile is proactively incubating commercial scenarios for 6G, including collaborations with robotics companies to test how 6G can assist robots in timely data transmission and coordination of various models.

Industry Outlook: Commercialization Expected by 2030, Diverse Terminal Forms

Regarding the question most concerning to ordinary consumers—“When will 6G actually arrive?”—Huang Yuhong provided a clear timeline.

“We are currently aiming for the first international standard to be established by 2029, followed by pre-commercial products and testing verification, with true commercial development expected in 2030.” She also revealed that China Mobile has just led the completion of the first 6G standard research project by 3GPP, defining a clear direction for 6G technology development.

Financial Association reporters also noted that, according to the global standard advancement plan, 3GPP is expected to form the first version of the 6G standard by 2029. At MWC 2026, Qualcomm also clearly stated a roadmap for gradually delivering 6G commercial systems starting in 2029.

Chen Shanzhi stated that 6G will focus on solving the industry application problems that 5G has not yet resolved, achieving a leap from serving people and objects to covering the entire domain and connecting everything intelligently. Its core indicators are the integration of space and earth and intelligent communication, which will completely differentiate the development of mobile communications from 1G to 5G.

“6G will go beyond connection, building a deeply integrated platform for sensory computing centered on users, driving industrial intelligence and new business development,” said Chen Shanzhi.

What changes will 6G bring? Huang Yuhong described a future with diverse terminals to reporters: “The terminals in the 6G era may not just be mobile phones; they could be diversified, including robots, glasses, cars, and so on. A robotic dog might also be a terminal, and toys could be terminals too; they will accompany our daily lives and entertainment.”

She further explained that mobile phones in the future could become intelligent terminals that can help you do many things with just a voice command; glasses could transmit what you see to the cloud at any time, displaying the information you need. With powerful networks and AI capabilities, they will gather a lot of data to anticipate your health conditions.

This aligns with Zhang Ping’s assessment. Zhang Ping stated in an interview that the next stage of 6G may show visible progress on terminals, such as glasses that have interactive and environmental perception functions and provide immersive experiences.

Regarding the integration of 6G and embodied intelligence, Zhang Ping believes the key lies in enabling robots to perceive the real physical world, allowing them to make instantaneous or timely decisions.

“Currently, robots seem ‘not smooth enough’ because they are still solving problems in a purely digital world, making decisions and cognitions based on trained models,” he said. “Artificial intelligence should develop towards reality, interacting with the real economy and physical world; this interaction is expected to yield effects soon.”

On the question of whether “6G will be more expensive,” Zhang Ping offered a dialectical perspective, stating, “Price is not an absolute factor but a relative one.” He believes that 6G will provide new services that 5G cannot offer (such as robotic elderly care), and users will pay for the new value. Moreover, 4G, 5G, and 6G will coexist for a long time, giving users the freedom of choice. In terms of business models, in addition to traffic, new models such as billing based on tokens may also emerge.