The world’s largest mobile chipmaker is using 5G phones to go after Intel and Apple — hard. That was clear after Qualcomm’s tech summit in Hawaii this week. One after the other, executives compared the speed and battery gains of Qualcomm’s processors that will power 5G and 4G phones and laptops to Intel and Apple’s competing models.
The potshots came fast and furious. Qualcomm wants a piece of Intel’s PC pie, and it wants to punish Apple for leaving Qualcomm chips out of current and future iPhones. It also wants to push back against the perception that Apple, with its internal mobile processor business, is leading the pack when it comes to chip technology.
For Qualcomm, it’s key to maintain its position as the world’s biggest mobile chipmaker. Smartphone sales are starting to slow, but Qualcomm keeps benefiting from offering must-have features in its newest chips. It needs that to remain the case, particularly as it sees more competition not only from other processor makers but also from device makers, like Apple, designing their own chips.
Throughout the three-day event, Qualcomm trotted out heavyweight partners like Samsung, Verizon, AT&T, Lenovo, Google and Microsoft to announce news — like the first 5G phones to launch in 2019 — and to dig deep into the enormous speed and power gains that its new chips will bring. The Snapdragon 855 chipset will drive most major Android phones in 2019 and the new 8cx processor, designed specifically for Windows 2-in-1s, will expand Qualcomm’s foothold into PC computing. (See every announcement below).
The importance of 5G to Qualcomm cannot be overstated. The shift from 4G to 5G will mark a profound transformation in the way that people use devices, and the way that these devices will talk to each other. 5G is about more than just faster downloads. The technology will put billions of other devices online and enable remote surgery and self-driving cars that can talk to each other to avoid collisions.
The dual promise of extreme data speeds and instant network connections makes 5G a juicy prize for networks and device makers that can get there first, and that’s as true for Qualcomm, the chip supplier, as it aims to outmaneuver Intel and others worldwide. 5G will also come to future always-connected PCs, the company said. Most 5G networks will light up in early and mid 2019, though AT&T says it’s on track to turn on its first 5G market by the end of 2018.
On the PC front, Qualcomm wants to make strides against Intel by powering the Windows convertible laptops that brands like Lenovo and Samsung sell in droves to companies for employee use. It’s a space Intel currently dominates, but Qualcomm is banking on its 4G and future 5G connections to Verizon, AT&T and other networks to catch the eye of corporations.
Most of all, Qualcomm is counting on its newest technology to help it remain the mobile chip king. Here’s what it announced earlier this week to help with that goal.
Qualcomm’s 5G news
- Samsung and Qualcomm’s photo prototypes tease our 5G future
- Qualcomm reveals Snapdragon 855, its next chip for 5G (and 4G) phones, with more details coming Wednesday
- Samsung and Verizon will partner on a 5G smartphone in the first half of 2019
- Samsung will make a 5G smartphone for AT&T, too (Two of them!)
- Samsung, Verizon and AT&T hint that a 5G phone and service is going to cost you
- Qualcomm: 5G Android flagship phones will storm the 2019 holidays
- World’s first ultrasonic fingerprint reader unlocks your phone with sound waves
- Verizon plans to set up 5G incubators in Washington, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area to target specific uses for the fast networks
Snapdragon 855 news
- Snapdragon 855 will enable Android phones with 3D fingerprint readers, killer speeds and portrait mode for your videos, not just your photos
- Qualcomm’s next flagship processor supports a photo format called HEIF that Apple embraced more than a year ago
- Qualcomm’s conference has been all about 5G, but Snapdragon 855 isn’t actually 5G
- OnePlus plans to launch a 5G phone in the UK by the end of May
- That 5G phone from OnePlus won’t come cheap
- No OnePlus 5G phone for Verizon in the first half of 2019
Always-on, always-connected PC news
- Qualcomm aims straight at Intel with 8cx chip, its first 7nm CPU for PCs
- People are buying 4G LTE laptops but then not actually using 4G LTE, Lenovo says
- Firefox is coming to Windows 10 on Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered PCs
