Qualcomm Confirms ’Large’ Customer Dumped Snapdragon 810 From Flagship Smartphone
It would appear that even Qualcomm doesn't know for sure if its Snapdragon 810 System-on-Chip (SoC) will be used in Samsung's forthcoming Galaxy S6 smartphone. According to what's listed in the company's financial report for its first quarter of fiscal 2015 ended December 28, 2014, Qualcomm is expecting Samsung to use its own Exynos processor, though it's a little more complicated than that.
Let's back up a moment. Just over a week ago, reports surfaced that Samsung was concerned with an overheating issue it ran into while testing the Snapdragon 810 part in its unreleased Galaxy S6 handset. Given that Galaxy S5 sales fell below expectations, the last thing Samsung needs is for its next flagship phone to flop, so the decision was made to use its own Exynos chips instead.
A day later, LG said it wasn't having problems with the Snapdragon 810 processor in its G Flex 2, leading some to wonder if maybe the overheating issue was being overblown, or if Samsung was using that as an excuse to break up with Qualcomm and become more self reliant.
Then on Monday of this week, it was reported that Qualcomm wasn't out of the game just yet, and that it was working on a revised version of the Snapdragon 810 to be supplied to Samsung in March. Whether or not that would give Samsung enough time to use the revised chips before launching its next flagship isn't known, but that's where things left off.
Qualcomm seems skeptical, at least according to its financial report. In it, the company lowered its outlook for the second half of 2015 in its semiconductor business in part because it anticipates losing a major customer.
"Expectations that our Snapdragon 810 processor will not be in the upcoming design cycle of a large customer's flagship device," Qualcomm listed as one of the reasons for its lowered forecast.
That would be a blow to Qualcomm, though one that it could absorb. The company delivered a strong quarter with $7.1 billion in revenue, up from $6.6 billion a year prior, leading to a $2 billion profit, up from $1.9 billion year-over-year.
Let's back up a moment. Just over a week ago, reports surfaced that Samsung was concerned with an overheating issue it ran into while testing the Snapdragon 810 part in its unreleased Galaxy S6 handset. Given that Galaxy S5 sales fell below expectations, the last thing Samsung needs is for its next flagship phone to flop, so the decision was made to use its own Exynos chips instead.
A day later, LG said it wasn't having problems with the Snapdragon 810 processor in its G Flex 2, leading some to wonder if maybe the overheating issue was being overblown, or if Samsung was using that as an excuse to break up with Qualcomm and become more self reliant.
Then on Monday of this week, it was reported that Qualcomm wasn't out of the game just yet, and that it was working on a revised version of the Snapdragon 810 to be supplied to Samsung in March. Whether or not that would give Samsung enough time to use the revised chips before launching its next flagship isn't known, but that's where things left off.
Qualcomm seems skeptical, at least according to its financial report. In it, the company lowered its outlook for the second half of 2015 in its semiconductor business in part because it anticipates losing a major customer.
"Expectations that our Snapdragon 810 processor will not be in the upcoming design cycle of a large customer's flagship device," Qualcomm listed as one of the reasons for its lowered forecast.
That would be a blow to Qualcomm, though one that it could absorb. The company delivered a strong quarter with $7.1 billion in revenue, up from $6.6 billion a year prior, leading to a $2 billion profit, up from $1.9 billion year-over-year.
