Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs put on a strong showing here at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show, demonstrating the forthcoming S4 chipset running on Windows 8 and talking up Snapdragon.
LAS VEGAS -
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) CEO Paul Otellini is expected to tout the company's mobile
processor technologies and road map during his keynote at the 2012 Consumer
Electronic Show here Jan. 10.
But this isn't
the desktop market, and Intel is going to have to go through Qualcomm first.
Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs reinforced why his company is the world's leading
mobile chipset maker-with more than 7 billion chipsets in the market-during his
own keynote speech, which formally kicked off CES this morning.
Jacobs noted
that the Snapdragon chipsets, which incorporate the CPU and GPU on one silicon
wafer, have rolled out in more than 300 devices, with another 350 in the works.
The bulk of these devices are Android smartphones and tablets. Jacobs said
Qualcomm is providing reference designs or blueprints Android OEMs can use to
create new handsets and tablets.
Android OEMs
are major purchasers of Qualcomm chipsets, but many of these same OEMs are also
outfitting their other handsets with the mobile chips. Now for some trivia: Did
you know all Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone 7 smartphones are powered by
Snapdragon chips? You do now.
Jacobs proudly
reminded the audience of this fact, and called on Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who
oversaw a bold bet to embrace Windows Phone 7 last year, to discuss the
companies' relationship. Nokia introduced the Lumia line in October, and the
company just unveiled the Lumia 900 from AT&T at CES Jan. 9, and said
T-Mobile would sell the Lumia 710 this month.
Nokia is also
tapping into developing markets, focusing on low-cost smartphones in China,
India, Brazil, Australia and other nations to "introduce the next 1
billion people to the Internet."
"Nokia
understands developed markets," Elop said. "Nokia also understands
the emerging markets. Together with our partner Qualcomm, we are developing
products that will meet the unique needs of different markets around the
world." Elop also promised the two companies would offer North American
developers a gateway to the rest of the world.
Elop's
appearance to pump up Windows Phone 7 on its Lumia handsets should help raise the profile of those
gadgets, something that is sorely needed for WP7 to gain traction.
Qualcomm is
also preparing its next-generation Snapdragon S4 chipset to launch on phones,
tablets and smart TVs later this year.
Jacobs said
the S4 chips will basically be home theater systems unto themselves, driving high-definition
3D video and Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound. Jacobs showed off the S4 running on a
Qualcomm prototype tablet running the Windows 8 operating system, a user
experience that looks to be fast and efficient.
Lenovo Senior
Vice President Liu Jun followed with a demo of a Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android
4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-based smart TV from running the S4. The voice-controlled
set is launching in China this year
Meanwhile,
just how important are the emerging markets?
Jacobs said
merging countries represent 80 percent of the global population and will
account for 50 percent of global gross domestic product by 2014. Moreover,
China, which already has 300 million mobile users, or as many mobile users as
the U.S. has people, will surpass 1 billion wireless connections this year.
Finally, by
2015, half of all smartphones are expected to ship to emerging markets. Expect
Qualcomm technology to be incorporated in most of those devices, leaving
Samsung, Intel and others to compete for the rest.
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