Qualcomm: Expect 2015’s Biggest Smartphones To Be Snapdragon-Powered

Qualcomm has boasted that its technology will power the majority of high-powered mobile devices released in 2015, including a new Lumia device from Microsoft

The chipmaker expects more than 60 devices to feature its flagship Snapdragon 810 processor, with the first devices (the LG G Flex 2 and Xiaomi Mi Note Pro) appearing at CES in Las Vegas last month and others, including high-end handsets from the likes of Sony and Motorola, set to arrive later this year.

Fast and furious

“The smartphone experience at the premium tier will be defined by products that don’t compromise on performance, connectivity and entertainment, and Snapdragon 810 will be at the heart of enabling these features,” said Murthy Renduchintala, executive vice president, Qualcomm Technologies, and co-president, QCT.

“With a growing design pipeline currently in excess of 60 devices, we’re excited about the innovation our OEM customers will unlock for consumers who demand superior mobile experiences in 2015.”

Qualcomm’s relationship with Microsoft is probably the most interesting as the company is yet to release a high profile flagship smartphone since its buyout of Nokia devices division, limiting itself to only a collection of mid-range mobiles. The declaration of support from the computing giant would seem to suggest such a device is on the way though.

“We look forward to continuing this relationship to deliver best-in-class Lumia smartphones, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processors, and offer an unprecedented combination of processing power, rich multimedia, high-performance graphics, and wireless connectivity for our customers,” said Juha Kokkonen, general manager for portfolio and product management at Microsoft.

All power

Qualcomm hopes its new processor will allow the company to maintain its lead amid increased comptition from the likes of Nvidia and MediaTek.

The chip will support Category 9 LTE Carrier Aggregation connectivity, meaning that devices packing the chip will be able to experience download speeds of up to 450Mbps, a significant upgrade from the current market highs of around 300Mbps.

Qualcomm says that the new chip will also provide quicker application performance and improved power efficiency, and is its first to support both a fully-integrated 64-bit multicore ARM CPU and LTE-Advanced multimode modem.

What do you remember about the smartphones of 2014? Try our quiz!