Qualcomm Launches Next Flagship Android Mobile Platform
Qualcomm launched a successor to the flagship Snapdragon 888 mobile platform at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Monday, and bolstered support for 5G millimeter-wave networks with a contingent of ecosystem supporters. Qualcomm’s next-generation 5G mobile platform for Android devices delivers the entertainment “users expect from flagship devices,” said Lekha Motiwala, director-product management, on an embargoed call Thursday announcing the launch of the Snapdragon 888 Plus.
The follow-on to the 888 platform launched in December has step-up prime core performance to 3 GHz for faster app response time, and a 32 tera-operations-per-second AI engine which enables multiple neural networks to operate simultaneously, said Motiwala. Improved AI performance makes video calls and entertainment experiences more intelligent and immersive, she said. On the imaging side, the 888 Plus supports 8K video capture at 30 frames per second and 4K video with 64-megapixel stills. HDR support includes HDR10+, HDR10, hybrid log gamma and Dolby Vision; it can capture 4K HDR video at 120 frames per second and 4K HDR video with bokeh. Audio includes Bluetooth 5.2 with 24-bit/96kHz music streaming and low latency of under 90 milliseconds.
The platform's Snapdragon X60 5G modem-RF system supports 5G mmWave and sub-6 GHz stand-alone and non-stand-alone modes for frequency division duplex and time-division duplex systems. Qualcomm was part of a contingent of mobile communications companies announcing their collective support for 5G mmWave technology globally to address the “significant increases in user data demand.” Other organizations supporting 5G mmWave are Airtel, AT&T, Casa Systems, China Unicom, Chunghwa Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Elisa, Ericsson, Fastweb, Fibocom, Gongjin Electronics, HMD Global, Honor, Infomar, InnoWireless, KDDI, Kyocera, MeiG, Motorola, NBN, Nokia, NTT Docomo, Oppo, Optus, Orange, Partron, Quectel, Rakuten Mobile, Samsung, Singtel, SoftBank, Sunsea AIoT, TCL, Telia Finland, Telstra, TIM Group, True, UScellular, vivo, Vodafone, Xiaomi and ZTE.
“The global deployment of 5G mmWave is now inevitable,” said Qualcomm CEO-elect Cristiano Amon. Support from additional companies in the ecosystem “demonstrates the global scale and maturity of 5G mmWave,” he said.
The Barcelona show, the first MWC since February 2019, is a hybrid event with 35,000 in-person attendees expected, said GSMA Monday. The number of 5G networks since last MWC has grown from three in South Korea to 165 in 65 countries, said the GSMA's global mobile economy update report. This year, 5G networks were launched in Indonesia, Kenya and Tajikistan. By 2025, 5G will be more than a fifth of total mobile connections, and more than 40% of people around the world will live in a 5G network coverage area, it said.
GSMA thinks 4G still has “significant headroom” for growth, said the report. 4G is expected to peak at 60% penetration by 2023 when 5G gains additional traction in new markets. 4G has peaked, and in some cases begun to decline, in leading 5G markets such as China, South Korea and the U.S., it said.