Qualcomm Is About To Make Cheap Android Phones More Powerful With New Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 Chipset

In a bid to make high-end features more accessible, Qualcomm Inc. QCOM has introduced a new chipset, the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3. This chipset is designed to offer most of the features of the current flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset at a more affordable price point.

What Happened: The Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 chipset is positioned just below the current flagship in terms of capabilities and price.

The new chipset is equipped with a GPU similar to the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, albeit with one less performance core and a lower frequency.

It also uses a previous-gen modem, the X70 5G, which includes Wi-Fi 7 support. The chipset supports on-device generative AI models and can run large language models of up to 10 billion parameters.

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Qualcomm’s Deepu John, senior director of product management, explained that each high-level tier of Snapdragon chips can be divided into three sub-categories. The “S” series chip sits just below the standard 8 Gen 3, with the potential for an 8 Plus Gen 3 to be released in the future.

Despite the new release, phone manufacturers are still using the 2022 flagship, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, in non-flagship phones.

The Snapdragon 7 Gen 3, which is positioned just below the 8S Gen 3, has only appeared in a few phones. This strategy by Qualcomm seems to be aimed at maintaining its hold on the high-end phone market.

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Why It Matters: The Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 is part of Qualcomm’s strategy to expand the availability of high-end features in smartphones.

The chipset is set to be used by several major smartphone manufacturers, including Honor, iQOO, Realme, Redmi, and Xiaomi, in their upcoming devices.

This move is expected to further solidify Qualcomm’s position in the smartphone market.

A recent report suggested that the company could be the first to use a next-generation memory technology focused on AI.

Price Action: Qualcomm stock closed at $167.20 on Friday, down 0.74%, according to Benzinga Pro.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Qualcomm