Qualcomm Beefs Up Its Mobile Chip. A Head-to-Head With Apple Will Be the Real Test. -- Barrons.com

Dow Jones10-22

By Adam Clark

Qualcomm has launched its latest mobile phone chip, claiming it will be the best processor for running artificial-intelligence applications. That sets up a showdown with Apple as AI becomes the battleground for smartphones.

Qualcomm said in a statement late on Monday that its Snapdragon 8 Elite is "the most powerful and world's fastest" mobile system-on-a-chip ever. That would suggest the company thinks it can outperform Apple's A18 Pro chip which powers premium versions of the iPhone 16, although independent benchmarks for the chip aren't yet available.

Qualcomm and Apple are both hoping that AI-enabled smartphones will lead to a resumption of growth in the mobile device market. Global smartphone shipments declined 3.2% in 2023, according to research firm International Data Corporation.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite is expected to be in coming devices from Samsung Electronics, as well as Chinese smartphone manufacturers Honor, OnePlus and Xiaomi, among others. Like Apple's A18 silicon, it will be built on a 3 nanometer manufacturing process.

The chipset includes a version of Qualcomm's Oryon central-processing unit, originally designed for laptops but adapted for mobile devices. Qualcomm said that it will optimize AI, browsing, gaming and other activities on mobile.

"This is a far cry from the incremental improvements that Apple has been announcing recently which is a strong indication Qualcomm is now enabling both the Windows and Android ecosystems to offer real competition to Apple for the first time in a while," wrote independent analyst Richard Windsor, who publishes Radio Free Mobile, in a blog post on Tuesday.

Qualcomm shares were down 0.8% in premarket trading on Tuesday.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 22, 2024 06:53 ET (10:53 GMT)

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Qualcomm Beefs Up Its Mobile Chip. A Head-to-Head With Apple Will Be the Real Test. -- Barrons.com

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