28-nanometer chip confirmed by Qualcomm

In its Q3 earnings call, Qualcomm shared the white paper detailing its latest innovations. The company is working to unveil a new chip by next year that will revolutionalise the smartphone market. 

Said Steven Mollenkopf, Qualcomm’s Executive Vice President, “We sampled the Snapdragon MSM8960 ahead of schedule this quarter. Our first 28-nanometer device will really go commercial at the end of this calendar year.” Industry experts are predicting a 2012 release for the chip though.                                     

Qualcomm’s new chip is going to be tiny yet remarkably powerful and energy efficient. At 28-nanometer, it is unlike any other chip in use these days. In fact, currently 45-nanometer processors are in use, even in the most high-end phones. Apple’s A4/A5, NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 and Texas Instruments’ OMAP 4 work on 45-nanometer.                                                       

Samsung is set to come up with a 36-nanometer chip in this quarter and Apple is rumoured to go in for a 28-nanometer chip for its A6. Qualcomm is looking to consolidate its position with its new chip in the coming year, especially since it will run on less than half the power current chips run on. 

The Snapdragon S4 processors will be available in single, double and quad CPU configurations for maximum flexibility, according to Qualcomm.  The processors will bring to users ‘Krait’, Qualcomm’s second generation CPU that promises to outperform ARM CPUs and even Qualcomm’s own Scorpion CPU micro-architecture. 

The S4 chipset will also introduce Adreno 225 Graphics Processing Unit which will deliver 50% more power than its predecessor. The S4 chips will offer support for LTE and 4G apart from Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC etc. 

Keeping in mind earlier trends, HTC is most likely to carry Qualcomm’s new chipset. Rumour has it that HTC has already provided Krait devices to Google. It looks like users are in for a treat with Qualcomm’s new chipset with promises to pack a punch at 28-nanometer.