Lenovo has announced today that the Lenovo Legion Tab, an 8.8-inch Android tablet for the modern mobile gamer, is soon going to be expanding availability from China to select markets in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) and Asia. The Lenovo Legion Tab bridges the gap between PC and mobile gaming, offering a solution for gamers seeking a high-performance gaming experience that is both accessible and convenient.

The Lenovo Legion Tab transcends the typical expectations of a tablet, delivering outstanding gaming performance thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4 nm processor and 12 GB of LPDDR5X memory all in a 76 mm thin Storm Grey tablet weighing in at just 350 grams. The Lenovo Legion Tab allows for even more gaming on the go owing to its 256 GB onboard storage—expandable with the microSD slot that supports up to 1 TB cards. The 144 Hz 8.8-inch QHD+ Lenovo PureSight gaming display brings visuals to vibrant life, allowing any Android compatible game to shine crisp and colorful. The tablet's integrated haptic system gives gamers a further level of immersion and feedback so they can truly get in the game.

Qualcomm's Weibo social media account has teased an upcoming new product launch: "the spring dragon raises its head, and everything is reborn! The new Snapdragon flagship is about to be released. Let's welcome the New Year and the new era. On March 18, please stay tuned for the Snapdragon flagship new product launch conference." News outlets believe that a variant of the current top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (SM8650-AB) chipset will be introduced next week. Smartphone tech tipster, Digital Chat Station, revealed that a mysterious Qualcomm Snapdragon "SM8635" model was in the pipeline. Early February speculation pointed to a possible "Snapdragon 8s Gen 3" moniker—the added "s" implies that this mobile processor could emerge as a cheaper "sub-flagship" model.

Geekbench 6.2.2 results—posted by a trio of Realme "RMX3851" android smartphones—revealed speculated "8s Gen 3" specifications, including a 3.01 GHz "Big" Core clock, an Adreno 735 integrated GPU, and a 1+3+4 cluster configuration. The pre-release samples could not keep up with finalized Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 hardware in performance gauntlets. A mid-range "Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3" SoC could make an appearance on March 18, but tipsters believe that the event will be dedicated to a single new product. Digital Chat Station reckons that Qualcomm will market the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 "as a Little 8G3."

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite is about to make landfall in the ultraportable notebook segment, powering a new wave of Windows 11 devices powered by Arm, capable of running even legacy Windows applications. The Snapdragon X Elite SoC in particular has been designed to rival the Apple M3 chip powering the 2024 MacBook Air, and some of the "entry-level" variants of the 2023 MacBook Pros. These chips threaten the 15 W U-segment and even 28 W P-segment of x86-64 processors from Intel, such as the Core Ultra "Meteor Lake," and Ryzen 8040 "Hawk Point." Erdi Özüağ, prominent tech journalist from Türkiye, has access to a Qualcomm-reference notebook powered by the Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100 28 W SoC. He compared its performance to an off-the-shelf notebook powered by a 28 W Intel Core Ultra 7 155H "Meteor Lake" processor.

There are three tests that highlight the performance of the key components of the SoCs—CPU, iGPU, and NPU. A Microsoft Visual Studio code compile test sees the Snapdragon X Elite with its 12-core Oryon CPU finish the test in 37 seconds; compared to 54 seconds by the Core Ultra 7 155H with its 6P+8E+2LP CPU. In the 3DMark test, the Adreno 750 iGPU posts identical performance numbers to the Arc Graphics Xe-LPG of the 155H. Where the Snapdragon X Elite dominates the Intel chip is AI inferencing. The UL Procyon test sees the 45 TOPS NPU of the Snapdragon X Elite score 1720 points compared to 476 points by the 10 TOPS AI Boost NPU of the Core Ultra. The Intel machine is using OpenVINO, while the Snapdragon is using Qualcomm SNPE SDK for the test. Don't forget to check out the video review by Erdi Özüağ in the source link below.

In what is a solid hint that Arm-based SoCs such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon X don't just intend to serve as cheaper alternatives to x86-based U-segment processors from Intel and AMD, but also compete in the high-end on virtue of their performance and battery life advantages; Samsung is designing a line of premium thin-and-light notebooks around the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Snapdragon X crams in the company's most advanced Arm CPU IP, and the latest generation Qualcomm Adreno iGPU; with Qualcomm claiming to offer 2x the CPU and graphics performance over x86 processors in its price-class, at 1/3rd the power (in other words, over 2x the battery life). It also packs a powerful NPU with 45 TOPS AI inferencing performance on tap. The Snapdragon X Elite is essentially Qualcomm's answer to the M3.

With the Snapdragon X Elite, Samsung has designed the new Galaxy Book 4 Edge, and WinFuture has some specs. Apparently the notebook comes in a 14-inch thin-and-light form-factor. The Snapdragon X Elite will be paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5/X memory, and 512 GB of NVMe-based SSD storage. Comms will include a 5G MODEM for connectivity anywhere; and possibly Wi-Fi 7 BE. Although we can't tell from the company images, it stands to reason that Samsung is using an AMOLED touchscreen display. WinFuture reports that Samsung plans to price the Galaxy Book 4 Edge at €1,759, which should put it in competition with several models of M3-powered MacBooks. The best part? The notebook is powered by Windows 11, and comes with a Microsoft-supplied translation layer for running legacy PC apps on it.

A Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite "X1E80100" processor model was leaked in late February—it is likely that several SKUs have been distributed for evaluation purposes. Geekbench Browser is normally a good source of pre-release information—a benched Lenovo "83ED" laptop was spotted last week. That entry outed a "Snapdragon X Elite-X1E78100" processor, sporting twelve cores with maximum frequencies of 3.42 GHz. The latest exposures arrive courtesy of a Baidu forum post. Qualcomm has publicly revealed its "X Elite" range of Nuvia-designed Oryon core CPUs, but insiders have uncovered an additional "X Plus" family—probably a series of less expensive/lower spec alternatives.

The leaked list of SKUs does not include any detailed information—it reconfirms the existence of Qualcomm's top-tier X1E80100 and X1E78100 models and the presence of Adreno iGPUs. Driver information points to Qualcomm's next-gen integrated graphics solutions being readied for modern APIs: DX11, DX12, and OpenGL. The firm's ARM-based mobile PC CPUs are expected to launch within a mid-2024 period, according to the company's official statements—insiders believe that the NPU-enhanced Snapdragon X processors are destined to debut within next-gen "Windows 12" AI-centric notebooks.

Zyxel Networks, a leader in delivering secure, AI-powered cloud networking solutions, has released its NWA130BE - BE11000 WiFi 7 Triple-Radio NebulaFlex Access Point (AP). With Wi-Fi 7-supported devices ready to go mainstream in 2024, the NWA130BE enables small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to benefit from unparalleled network speed, capacity and the best possible Wi-Fi experiences.

The NWA130BE delivers enterprise-class Wi-Fi 7 performance, with easy installation and management, at a price that's affordable for smaller businesses. It enables SMBs to enjoy the full benefits, future proofing and investment protection of the latest wireless standard, and take advantage of Zyxel Networks' Nebula cloud management platform to configure, monitor and control network devices remotely.

Available now, the Sennheiser brand today launches their latest generation flagship earbuds MOMENTUM True Wireless 4. Packed with over a dozen upgrades and future-facing technologies such as Snapdragon Sound Technology with Qualcomm aptX Lossless Technology, Auracast, and ultra-low-latency mode, the portable powerhouse series brings uncompromised sound to the high-performance audio enthusiast.

"Sound quality will always be a top priority for our customers, and we are seeing increasing demand for the application of it out in the real world," says Frank Foppe, Sennheiser Product Manager, "With higher quality hardware and our widest range of wireless technology support ever, MOMENTUM True Wireless 4 grows with the consumer's needs no matter how dynamic they currently are—or will become in the future."

CTL, a global cloud computing solution leader for education and enterprise, will demonstrate the world's first Chromebook supporting 5G RedCap connectivity powered by, which was the world's first announced commercial release 17 5G RedCap modem RF system. CTL is preparing its Chromebook product lines for the future, where 5G will replace LTE connectivity. With more schools and enterprises standing up private cellular networks for anytime, anywhere connectivity, CTL is at the forefront of bringing built-in 5G connectivity to Chromebook devices.

Erik Stromquist, CTL's CEO, said, "CTL is committed to developing and introducing affordable solutions for the education and enterprise markets. We believe there is a big opportunity to address the digital divide by providing more advanced and affordable private network solutions to extend internet access to every user regardless of location. We are thrilled to collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies in demonstrating 5G next-gen possibilities at this year's Mobile World Congress."

Last October, Qualcomm introduced Snapdragon X Elite as its most powerful computing processor for PC, but the ARM-based mobile solution is still months away from launch—officially mid-2024. Company leadership has indicated that their custom Oryon CPU—for the "thin-and-light notebook market"—could be hitting retail at the same time as Microsoft's heavily rumored "Windows 12" inauguration. Several PC news outlets have picked up on a mysterious Qualcomm "ZH-WXX" platform appearing on Geekbench Browser—the February 22 entrant seems to be a prototype notebook that sports a "Snapdragon X Elite - X1E80100 - Qualcomm Oryon CPU," and 32 GB of LPDDR5x memory.

There are no next generation operating system revelations here—the system was running a 64-bit install of Windows 11 Insider Preview. Overall Geekbench 6.2.2 tallies are 2574 (single-core), and 12562 (multi-core)—positioning the 12-core Snapdragon X Elite engineering sample just above AMD's Ryzen 9 7940HS top-end mobility-focused "Phoenix" APU in terms of performance. Geekbench Browser's "CPU Information" section identifies the alleged high-end Snapdragon X Elite processor as a "ARMv8 (64-bit) Family 8 Model 1 Revision 201" part. Average clock speeds were listed as 4.01 GHz (base frequency). Cluster 1 seems to contain eight Nuvia-designed Oryon processor cores, while Cluster 2 receives the remaining four units.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today unveiled the Qualcomm FastConnect 7900 Mobile Connectivity system, the first to deliver AI-optimized performance and integrate Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth, and Ultra Wideband technologies in a single chip. Utilizing AI, FastConnect 7900 adapts to specific use cases and environments, delivering meaningful optimizations across power consumption, network latency and throughput. FastConnect 7900 integrates Ultra Wideband technology, Wi-Fi Ranging, and Bluetooth Channel Sounding to create a powerful suite of proximity technologies that enable security rich device discovery, access, and control.

Adding to its technical prowess, FastConnect 7900 leverages a new class of RF front-end modules, and next-generation implementation of High Band Simultaneous technology, a key Wi-Fi 7 era innovation at the heart of multi-device experiences and foundational to Qualcomm Expanded Personal Area Network (XPAN) and Snapdragon Seamless experiences.

Smartphone chipset industry watchdogs believe that the Samsung 3 nm GAA process did not meet customer expectations, due to alleged yield issues. TSMC is seemingly victorious in this segment, as reports suggest that a next-generation 3 nm node production goal of "100,000 monthly wafers by the end of 2024" has been set. Three days ago, Samsung Foundry revealed that it is working on a very advanced SF2 GAAFET process—press outlets in South Korea propose that the manufacturing giant is hoping to outmuscle its main rival in a future 2 nm node category. Tuesday's press introduction stated that a development partnership is set: "to deliver optimized next generation ARM Cortex -X CPU developed on Samsung Foundry's latest Gate-All-Around (GAA) process technology."

A Sedaily article posits that the company's cutting-edge manufacturing tech has already attracted interest from notable parties: "Samsung Electronics is taking advantage of these advantages to win orders for the 2 nm project. Samsung Electronics took its first step by winning an order to produce a 2 nm AI accelerator from Preferred Networks (PFN), Japan's largest AI company. Qualcomm, the world's largest system semiconductor design company, has entered into discussions with Samsung Electronics' System LSI Division, which designs high-performance chips, to produce 2 nm prototypes." December 2023 news reports suggested that Samsung leadership was considering a 2 nm wafer price discount—in order to stay competitive with competing foundry services. It is possible that Qualcomm is evaluating the 2 nm SF2 GAAFET process for a distant Snapdragon 8 "Gen 5" chipset, while Samsung LSI could be working on a 2 nm "Exynos 2600" SoC design.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is a high performance Arm SoC designed to compete with Apple M3, with Windows 11 thin and light notebooks and Chromebooks being its main target devices. Microsoft pins a lot of hope in chips such as the Snapdragon 8cx series as they offer comparable performance and battery life to the current crop of M3 MacBooks. A lot of water has flown under the bridge since Windows RT, and the latest crop of Windows 11 for Arm has a much wider PC application support base thanks to official translation layers by Microsoft. CPUID has an Arm64 version of the popular CPU-Z utility, which correctly detects all the specs of the Snapdragon 8cx, but more importantly, has a Bench tab that can test the single- and multithreaded performance of the CPU.

A Chinese tech enthusiast wasted no time in putting the Snapdragon 8cx through this CPU-Z internal benchmark, and found surprisingly good performance numbers. The single-threaded bench, which loads one of chip's four Arm Cortex-X1C P-cores, registers a score of 543.7 points. This is roughly comparable to that of the AMD "Zen 2" or Intel "Comet Lake" x86-64 core. The multithreaded test, which saturates all four P-cores, and all four Cortex-A78C E-cores, springs up 3479.7 points, which again compares to entry/mainstream x86-64 processors from AMD or Intel. Not impressed? How about the fact that the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is a 7 W chip that idles under 2 W for the most part, and can make do with passive cooling, posting scores comparable to 35 W x86 chips that need active cooling?

A mysterious Qualcomm Snapdragon "SM8635" model emerged earlier this month—courtesy of ever reliable smartphone tech tipster Digital Chat Station. They claimed that the unnamed mobile chipset had posted an AnTuTu score of roughly 1.7 million, with specifications including one Cortex-X4 core clocked at 2.9 GHz and an integrated Adreno 735 GPU. TSMC's 4 nm process node was also mentioned—not a particularly big revelation since the latest Snapdragon flagship is a 4 nm part. Early guess work pointed to possible Snapdragon 8s Gen 2 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Lite guises, but a Geekbench Browser leak indicates that SM8635 is destined to become "Snapdragon 8s Gen 3," in Digital Chat Station's opinion.

A Realme "RMX3851" android device was tested in Geekbench 6.2.2—stated specifications include a 3.01 GHz "Big" Core clock, Adreno 735 GPU, and a 1+3+4 cluster configuration. Many believe that the SM8635 is positioned as a cut-down alternative to Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (SM8650-AB), given that Realme specializes in producing value-oriented "near flagship" specced smartphones. Wccftech has spent hands-on time with various Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered devices: "You can see in (Realme's Geekbench entry) that the alleged Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 does not perform on the same level as its elder brother, which scores higher in both single and multi-core. For the sake of reference, I have seen the elder sibling going as high as 2,329 in single-core tests and 7,501 in multi-core tests. So, this chipset is performing at half the speed, but of course, this seems like a device that is not completely ready, so the final scores might improve." Further (insider) leaks or an official Qualcomm announcement will confirm whether the posited "Snapdragon 8s Gen 3" moniker is a good guess, although another leaked chip suggests another path. Roland Quandt reckons that a similarly configured "SM7675" SoC will be joining the Snapdragon 7 Gen family.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, speaking at the Intel Foundry Services (IFS) Direct Connect event, confirmed to Tom's Hardware that he hopes to turn IFS into the West's premier foundry company, and a direct technological and volume rival to TSMC. He said that there is a clear line of distinction between Intel Products and Intel Foundry, and that later this year, IFS will be more legally distinct from Intel, becoming its own entity. The only way Gelsinger sees IFS being competitive to TSMC, is by making its most advanced semiconductor manufacturing nodes and 3D chip packaging innovations available to foundry customers other than itself (Intel Products), even if it means providing them to companies that directly compete with Intel products, such as AMD and Qualcomm.

Paul Alcorn of Tom's Hardware asked CEO Gelsinger "Intel will now offer its process nodes to some of its competitors, and there may be situations wherein your product teams are competing directly with competitors that are enabled by your crown jewels. How do you plan to navigate those types of situations and maybe soothe ruffled feathers on your product teams?" To this, Gelsinger responded "Well, if you go back to the picture I showed today, Paul, there are Intel products and Intel foundry, There's a clean line between those, and as I said on the last earnings call, we'll have a setup separate legal entity for Intel foundry this year," Gelsinger responded. "We'll start posting separate financials associated with that going forward. And the foundry team's objective is simple: Fill. The. Fabs. Deliver to the broadest set of customers on the planet."

ARM's in-progress fifth generation "Blackhawk" Cortex design is allegedly going through a troubled phase of development, according to Chinese insider sources. A Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) social media post highlights ongoing issues: "It's reported that the Cortex X5 architecture is underperforming compared to expectations. It's speculated that the high-frequency power consumption has surged explosively. Therefore, if performance is reduced for lower power consumption, the Geekbench 6 multi-core score of Dimensity 9400 may not achieve a score of 9,400 points." A recent Moor Insights & Strategy analysis piece proposed that "Blackhawk" would become "the most powerful option available at launch" later this year—mobile chipsets leveraging ARM's Cortex-X5 design are touted to face tough next-gen competition from Qualcomm and Apple corners.

Revegnus pulled in a rival SoC: "While Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is seen to have minor issues, there is no evidence to support this claim. There might be a problem with low-frequency power consumption not showing clear superiority over ARM's middle cores." Qualcomm's next flagship model is performing admirably according to insiders—an engineering sample managed to score 10,628 points in alleged Geekbench 6 multi-core gauntlets. Late last month prototype clocks were leaked—Digital Chat Station claimed that a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 High-Performance "Big" core was capable of reaching 4.0 GHz. Prior to the latest news, MediaTek's Dimensity 9400 SoC was observed achieving ~10,000 multi-core Geekbench 6 scores—leaked CPU cluster details present a single "Big" Cortex-X5 unit operating alongside three Cortex-X4 cores.

The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced $1.5 billion in planned direct funding for GlobalFoundries (Nasdaq: GFS) (GF) as part of the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act. This investment will enable GF to expand and create new manufacturing capacity and capabilities to securely produce more essential chips for automotive, IoT, aerospace, defense, and other vital markets.

New York-headquartered GF, celebrating its 15th year of operations, is the only U.S.-based pure play foundry with a global manufacturing footprint including facilities in the U.S., Europe, and Singapore. GF is the first semiconductor pure play foundry to receive a major award (over $1.5 billion) from the CHIPS and Science Act, designed to strengthen American semiconductor manufacturing, supply chains and national security. The proposed funding will support three GF projects:

MSI released the Herald BE NCM865, a PCIe wireless networking adapter that provides Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity in a convenient internal add-on card form-factor. The features a PCI-Express x1 and USB 2.0 host interfaces. Besides installing the card on a PCIe slot, you connect it to a vacant USB 2.0 header on your motherboard with the included cable, for the Bluetooth component to work. The base card features the two antenna jacks, the USB 2.0 header, and an M.2 E-key slot which holds the actual WLAN module.

The WLAN module in charge of this card is a Qualcomm NCM865. This provides Wi-Fi 7 (IEEE 802.11be) at a maximum throughput of 5.8 Gbps. The controller supports 320 MHz wide channels across the 6 GHz, 5 GHz, and 2.4 GHz bands. It also supports older Wi-Fi standards going down to 802.11n over the 2.4 GHz band. Its Bluetooth component supports the latest Bluetooth 5.4 standard. The controller features multi-link operational topology. A stylish magnetized base antenna module comes included—the kind that MSI includes with some of its premium motherboards. The company didn't release pricing information.

Today, Bose introduces a breakthrough audio wearable that lets you hear the world around you while still enjoying your music uninterrupted. The new Bose Ultra Open Earbuds feature an innovative cuff-shaped design that looks as good as it sounds. They provide amazing comfort for all-day wear without making you choose between immersive audio and awareness. Pause for nothing and hear everything. The Ultra Open Earbuds are available starting today for $299 on Bose.com and through select resellers.

"The one bud phenomenon is real. We know people want a way to listen to their music while still being connected to the world around them," said Raza Haider, chief product officer, Bose. "We set out to completely reimagine the future of wearable audio and deliver a better, more beautiful, and comfortable solution to provide the best of both worlds. The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds do just that. Now you can enjoy your music and life, all at the same time."

A new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows shipments of artificial intelligence (AI) PCs - personal computers with specific system-on-a-chip (SoC) capabilities designed to run generative AI tasks locally - growing from nearly 50 million units in 2024 to more than 167 million in 2027. By the end of the forecast, IDC expects AI PCs will represent nearly 60% of all PC shipments worldwide.

"As we enter a new year, the hype around generative AI has reached a fever pitch, and the PC industry is running fast to capitalize on the expected benefits of bringing AI capabilities down from the cloud to the client," said Tom Mainelli, group vice president, Devices and Consumer Research. "Promises around enhanced user productivity via faster performance, plus lower inferencing costs, and the benefit of on-device privacy and security, have driven strong IT decision-maker interest in AI PCs. In 2024, we'll see AI PC shipments begin to ramp, and over the next few years, we expect the technology to move from niche to a majority."

During a January 31 Earnings Call, Cristiano Renno Amon (President and CEO of Qualcomm) discussed the upcoming launch of his company's Snapdragon X Elite processor—an ARM-based SoC that is built "for AI" on next generation tablets, notebooks and ultra-slim laptops. The twelve onboard custom Oryon cores are part of a package that will become (in marketing terms): "the most powerful, intelligent, and efficient processor ever created for Windows in its class. With cutting edge responsiveness, navigate demanding multi-tasking workloads across productivity, creativity, immersive entertainment, and more..." Amon and his executive colleagues are targeting a middle-of-2024 launch of Snapdragon X Elite-powered devices, he also mentioned a next-gen version of Microsoft's operating system in the same sentence: "We're tracking to the launch of products with this chipset tied with the next version of Microsoft Windows that has a lot of the Windows AI capabilities. We're still maintaining the same date, which is driven by Windows, which is mid-2024, getting ready for back-to-school."

The rumor mill has "Windows 12" marked down for a summer 2024 launch period—last December, Taiwan's Commercial Times reported on a number sources within the PC manufacturing industry—alluding to a June release date. Intel Chief Financial Officer Dave Zinsner relayed a similar schedule to a Citi interviewer (reported by PC Gamer): "We actually think '24 is going to be a pretty good year for client, in particular, because of the Windows refresh. And we still think that the installed base is pretty old and does require a refresh and we think next year may be the start of that, given the Windows catalyst. So we're optimistic about how things will play out beginning in '24."

In 2024, the tech industry remains steadfastly focused on AI, with the continued rollout of advanced AI chips leading to significant enhancements in processing speeds. TrendForce posits that this advancement is set to drive growth in both DRAM and NAND Flash across various AI applications, including smartphones, servers, and notebooks. The server sector is expected to see the most significant growth, with content per box for server DRAM projected to rise by 17.3% annually, while enterprise SSDs are forecast to increase by 13.2%. The market penetration rate for AI smartphones and AI PCs is expected to experience noticeable growth in 2025 and is anticipated to further drive the average content per box upward.

Looking first at smartphones, despite chipmakers focusing on improving processing performance, the absence of new AI functionalities has somewhat constrained the impact of AI. Memory prices plummeted in 2023 due to oversupply, making lower-priced options attractive and leading to a 17.5% increase in average DRAM capacity and a 19.2% increase in NAND Flash capacity per smartphone. However, with no new applications expected in 2024, the growth rate in content per box for both DRAM and NAND Flash in smartphones is set to slow down, estimated at 14.1% and 9.3%, respectively.

Cristiano Renno Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm, discussed the successful launch of his company's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile platform during a January 31 Earnings Call—expectations have been set high for the flagship smartphone chipset: "(bringing) a new standard for on-device gen AI experiences for premium smartphones and powers all through flagship Android devices launched and launching this fiscal year." Amon highlighted Samsung's recently rolled out Galaxy S24 Ultra range, that makes use of a special "For Galaxy" Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. Industry watchdogs have continued to question Samsung's reliance on third-party processor solutions (including MediaTek Dimensity parts), despite having access to plenty of "worthy" in-house technology. Their flagship Exynos 2400 chip has been deployed with the Galaxy S24 Plus range, but Qualcomm Snapdragon-equipped devices offer better performance and efficiency.

The picky segment of Samsung's smartphone userbase will be pleased to hear about a renewed agreement between it and Qualcomm, which includes a trickling down to mid-range offerings—Amon made a big announcement during the late January conference call: "We're also announcing that we extended a multi-year agreement with Samsung relating to Snapdragon platforms for flagship Galaxy smartphone launches starting in 2024. The extended agreement demonstrates the value of Snapdragon 8, our technology leadership and our successful long-term strategic partnership with Samsung. In the quarter, we also announced the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 mobile platform, which brings leading gen AI capabilities to high-tier Android smartphones and is a category leader in both experiences and performance." Going forward, Samsung is likely sticking with its current operating model of peppering a mix of Snapdragon and Exynos chipsets throughout its Galaxy Z, S and A product ranges.

Qualcomm and its smartphone manufacturer partners are reported to be in a rush to get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset released later this year—Digital Chat Station believes that a pioneering mobile device could enter a mass production phase around September of this year. Prototype devices are allegedly up and running—the tipster's insider sources have alluded to engineering samples being capable of reaching 4.0 GHz clocks on a high-powered Big Core (Nuvia's Oryon or Phoenix). Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC was revealed last October, and working hardware is slowly trickling out via retail avenues in early 2024—Digital Chat Station does not provide any reasoning behind the race to get the successor across the finish line within the same year.

An unnamed smartphone manufacturer is said to have outfitted a "dual-curved screen" model with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset—Wccftech's report suggests that Xiaomi usually gets first dibs on cutting edge Qualcomm processor tech. The Nuvia engineering team has likely got their custom Oryon cores running to more than satisfactory levels—the article points out that: "a previous Geekbench 6 single-core and multi-core leak revealed that the (3 nm) Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 competes with Apple's M3 and is 46 percent faster than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in multi-threaded workloads." Qualcomm is facing fierce flagship chip competition in 2024—MediaTek's Dimensity 9400 SoC could arrive at a cheaper price point, while offering comparable performance and efficiency.

Qualcomm Incorporated has announced the appointment of Akash Palkhiwala to the expanded role of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. In addition to his CFO responsibilities, as COO, he will now have oversight for the global go-to-market organization and operations, and IT. Palkhiwala's appointment will be effective immediately and he will continue to report directly to Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated. "I'm pleased to expand Akash's CFO role to include that of Chief Operating Officer as Qualcomm executes on its growth and diversification strategy," said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm. "Akash has played a key role in the execution of our business strategy as Qualcomm has expanded into new end markets, and is ideally positioned to further align the company's operations to capture future growth opportunities. I am thrilled to congratulate Akash on this expanded role."

Palkhiwala has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2019. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and finance lead for QCT, Qualcomm's semiconductor business. Palkhiwala joined Qualcomm in 2001, and during this time has held several finance leadership roles including Treasurer, Financial Planning & Analysis, and Corporate Development. Palkhiwala holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from L.D. College of Engineering in India and an M.B.A from the University of Maryland.

Digital Chat Station has seemingly received insider information regarding the performance of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 mobile chipset—their source reports that a probable engineering sample is already exceeding its predecessor's Big core (Cortex-X4) maximum limit of 3.3 GHz. The rumor mill has Nuvia's custom Oryon cores linked to the next generation mobile processor, although some experts think that the Phoenix design was selected for Gen 4. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite notebook SoC was unveiled last October—this ARM-based solution is set to deliver "a dramatic leap in innovation for computing" thanks to Nuvia's custom Oryon technology. Kedar Kondap, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Compute & Gaming stated that the Snapdragon X Elite offers: "super-charged performance that will delight consumers with incredible power efficiency and take their creativity and productivity to the next level."

Digital Chat Station's brief assessment of the prototype Snapdragon 8 Gen 4's Big core prowess is also glowing: "4.0 GHz is no longer a dream" on smartphones. Past reports have Qualcomm signed up with TSMC for an unspecified 3 nm production process—next generation silicon will benefit greatly in terms of power efficiency, with custom Oryon or Phoenix cores (allegedly) achieving greater clock speeds thanks to some extra headroom. As mentioned above, the previous-gen Kryo Prime core—using TSMC's advanced 4 nm node—is factory restricted to 3.3 GHz. Tipsters reckon that efficiency cores are not part of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 design, due to the innate benefits of 3 nm—according to Digital Chat Station, MediaTek is taking similar steps with its upcoming Dimensity 9400 SoC.