Reports: Google, LG, don't want Qualcomm's super-expensive Snapdragon 865:
Qualcomm really threw a wrench into the flagship SoC market for 2020 with the Snapdragon 865. The new chip was a big departure from previous years thanks to Qualcomm's aggressive push for 5G, which comes with design requirements that make phones bigger, hotter, and more expensive than previous years. While we've already seen Samsung and many Chinese OEMs step up with 865-powered super-flagships that are more expensive than ever, for some OEMs, it seems like the cost is just too high. A pair of recent reports indicated that both Google and LG are skipping out on the Snapdragon 865 this year, opting instead for a cheaper chip.
For Google's next flagship smartphone, the Pixel 5, a few signs have popped up indicating it won't use the Snapdragon 865. Pixel phones always pop up in the Android code repository with fishy codenames before release, and in January, XDA Developers spotted three devices codenamed "Sunfish," "Redfin," and "Bramble." A recent teardown of the Google camera app gave us definitions for each of these codenames. "Sunfish" was labeled as "photo_pixel_2020_midrange_config," aka the Pixel 4a, while Bramble and Redfin were labeled "photo_pixel_2020_config," which should be the Pixel 5 and Pixel 5 XL.
As reported by XDA in January, the Pixel 5 and 5 XL don't actually use Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 865. In the Android code base, both are running the Snapdragon 765G, a chip that's one step down from the 865 in Qualcomm's lineup. There isn't actually a Snapdragon 865 Google phone in the Android repository.
Korean site Naver reports that LG is taking a similar approach to its 2020 flagship, the LG G9 ThinQ: instead of shipping the 865, the company is also opting for the cheaper 765G. HMD did the same thing recently with the launch of the Nokia 8.3.
(Score: 1) by noirmaru on Wednesday March 25 2020, @01:35AM (5 children)
they are still going to sell for $1000
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday March 25 2020, @01:43AM
Kinda irrelevant. I won't be buying one at that price point, nor will anyone I know.
Then again I don't have an MBA. I only have a lowly BA in Math and 40 years experience developing software.
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.
(Score: 1) by petecox on Wednesday March 25 2020, @01:58AM (2 children)
Yet xiaomi can announce a snapdragon 865, Redmi K30 Pro, for $425US.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday March 25 2020, @06:04AM (1 child)
Can you actually buy one in the U.S. and get a carrier to accept it?
When life isn't going right, go left.
(Score: 1) by petecox on Wednesday March 25 2020, @08:58AM
Not sure, not my country.
Here in Australia a major retailer is positioning them to take up the slack of that other Chinese brand, Huawei.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday March 25 2020, @08:49AM
Yes. I love it when Qualcomm gets fucked. Bunch of stinky Indians and Chicoms, all.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 25 2020, @01:43AM
Dimensity 1000
https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/mediatek/dimensity/1000 [wikichip.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by rigrig on Wednesday March 25 2020, @11:18AM (2 children)
Does anyone here know what kind of prices we are talking about?
Like, are phone manufacturers paying cents, dollars or 10/100s of dollars per chip, and how big would the price difference between a 865 and a 765G be?
Asking because it looks like this not just about price per chip:
No one remembers the singer.
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Wednesday March 25 2020, @11:38AM
Xiaomi's Redmi K30 Pro uses it and sells for $425.
compiling...
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday March 25 2020, @01:28PM
MediaTek Dimensity 1000L’s Performance Has Reportedly Forced Qualcomm to Reduce Snapdragon 765’s Price [wccftech.com]
Not sure about 765G.
BTW, Intel's chips cost almost nothing and they could win a price war with AMD if one was fought.
My net connection is flaking so I just have to post this ASAP.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday March 26 2020, @05:05AM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday March 26 2020, @09:40AM
Not in my backyard, bozo. They're doing it because they're cheap sons of bitches who don't want to build out existing infrastructure. You can not charge extra for 3.5G, or you can charge out the ass for 5G.