US chipmaker Qualcomm has launched new innovative chips designed specifically for smartphones and watches on the opening day of Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2018.
Qualcomm is the market incumbent when it comes to third-party smartphones SOC’s (System on a Chip), but other Chinese chipmakers are applying pressure to Qualcomm’s monopoly on this particular segment of the industry.
Qualcomm just announced the Snapdragon 632, 439 and 429, which will all be a bit better than their predecessors at things like performance, battery life, and that sort of thing.
“The introduction of Snapdragon 632, 439 and 429 builds off Qualcomm Technologies’ highest-selling mobile platforms and provides users with increased performance and power efficiency, superior graphics, AI capabilities and enhanced connectivity features,” said Kedar Kondap, VP of product management at Qualcomm. “We’re excited to offer these new platforms with enhanced features to our OEMs and consumers.”
Qualcomm’s other major announcement at MWC Shanghai 2018 was a new chip designed specifically for the kind of cheaper smart watch you might give to a child. The Snapdragon Wear 2500 Platform has features like extended battery life and low power location tracking so you can keep an eye on where your kids are. The platform also has an LTE modem and a special version of Android designed for kids.
“If you look at the targeted kid watch and tracker segment the growth in these designed-for-kids but highly capable devices, is very exciting, and customers are seeing wide spread global demand,” said Anthony Murray, GM of Voice, Music and Wearables at Qualcomm. “Qualcomm has helped to drive this fast expansion of 4G kid watches with its Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform and there are more than 10 devices commercially available today through retail and carriers,”
“With this next generation Snapdragon Wear 2500 platform, we are supporting new performance and features that customers will be able to use to create even more fun features and compelling use cases for these connected 4G kid watches and with our dedicated kid watch platform we aim to deliver a robust foundation that supports a rich and engaging experience for children.”
