Qualcomm said its latest 5G chips will soon power cost-effective 5G smartphones that will be priced at nearly $300 and available during the second half of this year.
San Diego-based Qualcomm said the new mobile phone chip, called the Snapdragon 690, will go into devices that it expects to retail at $300 to $500.
Smartphone makers such as HMD Global, the owner of the Nokia phone brand, Korea’s LG Electronics, China’s Lenovo Group’s Motorola, Sharp, TCL and Wingtech plan to use the chips, Qualcomm said.
Qualcomm is the leading supplier of mobile processors for smartphones and the modem chips that connect the phones to wireless data networks.
The company’s 5G chips are currently powering many premium-priced smartphones such as Samsung’s Galaxy devices. Samsung is the market leader in 5G smartphone business.
The push into lower price points means higher volumes for Qualcomm. According to data from Counterpoint Research, smartphones with wholesale prices of $100 to $400, which are somewhat lower than the prices consumers pay, made up about 50 percent of the smartphone market in the first quarter of 2020.
“With over 375 5G designs launched or in development using Qualcomm’s 5G solutions, we are driving the proliferation of 5G across multiple tiers,” said Cristiano Amon, president of Qualcomm.
Features of Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 5G mobile platform
Snapdragon 690 5G mobile platform brings 4K HDR (true 10-bit) support to capture over a billion shades of color and snapshots at up to 192 Megapixels.
It supports 120hz displays for fast refresh rates and smooth UI experiences. 5G connectivity gives gamers superior access to cloudbased, multi-player games. Snapdragon 690 is equipped with the latest 5th generation Qualcomm AI Engine, enabling smart camera and video, voice translation, advanced AI based imaging, and AI enhanced gaming experiences.
Snapdragon 690 features Qualcomm Kryo 560 CPU delivering up to 20 percent performance improvement compared to its predecessor.
The new Snapdragon X51 5G Modem-RF System is optimized for the 6-series platform to bring multi-gigabit speeds and superior 5G coverage to the 6-series for the first time.
5G smartphone makers
Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer, HMD Global, said it was the first mobile phone manufacturer to leverage the power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G 5G Modular Platform in a smartphone with the Nokia 8.3 5G.
In-Kyung Kim, senior vice president, 5G and network technology and strategy, LG Electronics, said LG is supportive of bringing this enabling technology down to lower priced products through its integration of the Snapdragon 690 Mobile Platform.
Sergio Buniac, president, Motorola Mobility, said it is committed to expand 5G into our portfolio and we will rely on the new Snapdragon 690 Mobile Platform to continue to do it.
Shigeru Kobayashi, general manager, SHARP Personal Communications Division, said it is supportive of Qualcomm Technologies’ first Snapdragon 6-series 5G mobile platform.
Chen Ji, general manager of global product center and vice president, TCL, said TCL has introduced smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 7 Series 5G Mobile Platform.
Wang Hao, president of sales, Wingtech, said Wingtech has developed many devices for global OEMs based on Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G solutions.
