Qualcomm: Snapdragon 845 Coming Next Year

During this year’s Snapdragon Tech Summit, Qualcomm not only introduced a 2 in 1 PC form factor powered by its Snapdragon 835 chip (and made possible through partnerships struck with other tech powerhouses such as Asus and Hewlett Packard), the company also took the time to hint that its upcoming flagship processor, the Snapdragon 845 (the successor to the aforementioned Snapdragon 835) will be coming in 2018.

Over the last few users, mobile users around the world have come to expect a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip to power some of the most high profile smartphone releases across the globe. Just like what the Snapdragon 835 has done this year, next year’s Snapdragon 845, for sure, will be featured in various flagship device offerings in 2018, possibly those from global brands such as Samsung and LG. 

True enough, Lei Jun, the chief executive officer of Xiaomi, the fifth biggest vendor of smartphone devices in the planet, has already announced that its next high end smartphone, the Mi 7, will be equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845. Jun revealed that ever since the Chinese phone maker released its Mi 1 device about six years ago, it had developed a preference for Qualcomm chips. 

Based on the fact that most Android powered flagship devices in 2017 have taken full advantage of the Snapdragon 835’s capabilities, it is pretty reasonable to expect that Android phone makers will be doing the same next year with the Snapdragon 845. As hinted by Alex Katouzian, senior vice president at Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 845 chip will likely deliver enhancements in areas such as imaging, video rendering and processing, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and virtual reality, and of course, battery power efficiency. 

Qualcomm’s flagship processor will likely make its way to other devices not running on Google’s Android mobile operating system. It is quite possible that personal computers that have Windows 10 will also make use of the Snapdragon 845. And considering that a number of virtual reality headsets have already integrated the Snapdragon 835 in 2017, this trend could well continue with new VR headsets released next year.

While it is true that Qualcomm has remained the largest wireless chip producer in the world, its dominance may be tested in the months or years to come. Its biggest clients are Samsung and Apple, who happen to be the number one and number 2 phone makers across the globe. But both brands are starting to work on their own processors, and the next few years could see them rely less on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon lineup of chips. It does not help that Qualcomm currently has a legal dispute with Apple.