Since Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek is already out of the high-end chipset market, that segment is expected to be dominated by flagship phones that will be powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 855 chipset. Already, there are indications that Samsung’s next-generation flagship, the Galaxy S10 series will be powered by the new chipset but it won’t be the first phone to have the chip. Xiaomi is also billed to unveil the flagship Mi 9 on February 20, same day Samsung will launch the Galaxy S10 models.
From the Taiwanese supply chain comes the news that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will soon commence the mass production of the Snapdragon 855 chipset. This is expected to cater for a large number of orders Qualcomm is said to have received from OEMs like Samsung, Xiaomi, LG, Nokia and several others.
The orders from Qualcomm will, no doubt, boost TSMC’s revenue in no distant time. The foundry was already facing a slump in its revenue due to reduction in orders for iPhone chips. The revenue is expected to pick up around July when most of the orders must have been delivered. TSMC projects 2019 to be a slow year for it and the entire semiconductor industry. However, it believes the competitiveness of its 7nm node manufacturing will ensure it still outperforms the industry average.
Read Also: Xiaomi Mi 9 is Powered by Snapdragon 855, Confirms Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun
The Snapdragon 855 is Qualcomm’s first 7nm chipset and it features a multi-core AI engine which Qualcomm claims to deliver up to three times better AI performance compared to its previous mobile platform, the Snapdragon 845. The new chipset also comes with Computer Vision (CV) ISP for enhanced computational photography which performs the same way as Google’s Night Sight feature for Pixel devices, thus substantially improving imaging in low-light areas.
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