Since Kirin was restricted, Qualcomm has become the absolute ruler of the Android smartphone chip market. Its monopoly position even surpasses Qualcomm's most brilliant 3G era.
The Dragon 888 and 8gen1 are the result of the absolute monopoly of the pendulum, and the 865 of the previous two years can even fight back and forth with the latest 8gen1.
But if the time goes back to ten years ago, Qualcomm definitely does not dare to be so messed up. Because Qualcomm was not the best choice at that time, there were options such as Texas Instruments OMAP, Samsung Hummingbird, Samsung Orion, Nvidia and so on. Among them, Texas Instruments and Samsung have been mixed in the mobile phone processor market for much longer than Qualcomm, and Qualcomm officially entered the mobile phone processor market around 2006, focusing on Windows Mobile processors and affordable feature machine processors.
Qualcomm's main competitor at the time was
and OMAP of Texas Instruments. Soon Qualcomm won the favor of HTC, the largest Windows Mobile smartphone manufacturer at the time, through the baseband, processor, patent multi-bundling sales strategy, Htc quickly updated its smartphone to Qualcomm Snapdragon series products. In 2008, the Android system was officially launched, and HTC, as the king of smart phone foundries, successfully won the name of the Android launcher, and HTC began to soar to become synonymous with high-end Android mobile phones. Friends take off Qualcomm naturally also got a lot of benefits. HTC's huge shipments and brand effect have made the fledgling Snapdragon processor the leader of the Android camp processor.
Of course, the step is easy to pull the egg, Qualcomm processor growth rate is too fast, less than 3 years to climb the first echelon of mobile phone processors. So the time left for Qualcomm processors to accumulate experience is very short. It should be known that Texas Instruments' OMAP began to develop in 2003, before Texas Instruments has done a lot of mobile device processors, research and development experience. The Intel Xscale series has gained a good reputation for being placed in the high-performance Windows Mobile market with desktop-level technology. Samsung also gained a lot of advantages by working for Apple to design processors, especially the early Hummingbird and Orion, although he later failed.
Of course, Qualcomm is not a fool, knowing that he is a later must have something for users to buy. So Qualcomm preemptively released the world's first 1GHZ mobile phone processor QSD8250 in 2008, which is the processor on the HTC HD2. However, at that time, the 65nm process could not tame the main frequency of 1GHz, resulting in a large endurance difference of heat becoming a high-frequency low energy in the user's mouth, so Qualcomm's first generation of Snapdragon became a fire dragon. The Texas instrument next door is much more pragmatic, knowing that the 65NM process can not tame the 1G main frequency, so the early omap3 processor through the frequency reduction dimension continues to sail and keep cool, the highest frequency is 800mhz with powervr sgx530 graphics processor. The experience is stronger than the QSD8250 to the point of not knowing where to go. Of course, Qualcomm of course stopped here, and in the 2011 dual-core war, it made a strange thing MSM8260 asynchronous dual-core. Unlike other dual-core processors that use the A9 architecture that natively supports multiple cores, Qualcomm's one was modified with the A8 architecture. Two cores can't handle a task at the same time, which is not a double core. However, the reason why Qualcomm is designed to run at a high frequency when one core runs a complex task, and the other core can reduce the frequency to achieve the purpose of power saving. A bit of a nucleus now big and small thoughts. But at that time, the mobile phone did not have a task scheduling at all, resulting in a core dead end to a core to sleep.
After tossing and turning twice, Qualcomm finally understood, of course, not how to understand the processor. Qualcomm understands that the frontal hard strength is not enough, then it will make the opponent a stumbling block. Qualcomm found that most manufacturers do not like to use Texas Instruments processors. Because none of them have an integrated baseband, they need to install a separate baseband chip. Debugging a standalone baseband chip is a hassle, and manufacturers without technology can play with a standalone baseband. At that time, there were mobile phone manufacturers with technology that had begun to slowly decline, such as Texas Instruments' good friends Motorola and Nokia. HTC and Ericsson switched to the Qualcomm camp in the series. Those emerging small manufacturers do not have the technical strength to debug independent basebands. Moreover, Texas Instruments OMAP does not have a public version of the program, and mobile phone manufacturers have to design their own mobile phones without reference. It's a nightmare for vendors without technology.
So Qualcomm began to use its own advantages to give Texas Instruments a trip. The development of a very preferential package on the surface, the processor baseband patent package price is even lower than Qualcomm's own independent baseband chip, so that the mobile phone using the Texas Instruments program compared to the Qualcomm solution of the mobile phone, for no reason to increase the cost of a mobile phone processor, thus forcing the mobile phone manufacturers to use Qualcomm's processor. Then support an emerging mobile phone manufacturer as their own spokesperson to promote the Snapdragon processor. Provide technical support and public version solutions to solve the pain points of insufficient technology accumulation of emerging manufacturers. That manufacturer naturally voted with its feet to choose a Qualcomm processor. Of course, mobile phone manufacturers knew the defects of the Snapdragon processor at that time, and the use experience would be a little worse than that of Samsung and Texas Instruments. However, if the Texas Instruments solution is adopted, it may have an additional processor and patent royalty cost than the opponent's Qualcomm solution, and debugging the independent baseband will pay more time, and it will not be possible to seize the opportunity to release a new machine. After weighing the pros and cons, you can only choose a Qualcomm processor
In 2012, the 4G era was coming, and Texas Instruments, which lacked patents for 4G communications, decided to withdraw from the mobile phone processor market. Mobile processor players, only Samsung, Intel, nvidia, Marvell, Meng XinHesilis and IT Ericsson remain. But Samsung and HiSilicon don't take it out, Intel dies x86 compatibility is difficult to say, nvidia lacks a baseband and a big stove, Marvell and Italian Ericsson performance is too la. At this time, Qualcomm Snapdragon was already an opponent who could pose a threat to him.
At this time, Qualcomm Snapdragon has evolved to the S4 era, distinguishing four levels of paly, plus, pro, prime, corresponding to the entry, mid-range, flagship three levels. But I don't know whether it is Qualcomm pricing or the conscience of manufacturers, plus or above is almost all sub-flagship level or above will be equipped with expensive prices. And Qualcomm's entry-level mobile phone processor is simply insincere, not to mention the Wannian msm7227. The successor, msm7225A, uses the performance of the A5 architecture, the GPU to an overclocked version of the Adreno 200, the entry dual-core MSM8225 is also the same A5 architecture, and the GPU gives an Adreno 203. Qualcomm did not expect that the man buried from the garbage heap of the cottage machine got up and punched Qualcomm in the face with MT6575 and MT6577.
MediaTek actually had a hand with Qualcomm as early as the Windows Mobile era, but was immediately slapped on the ground by Qualcomm. It was not until the launch of its second Android mobile phone processor, the MT6575, in 2012. MediaTek was pragmatic at the beginning, starting from the entry-level and low-end markets that Qualcomm despised. The MT6575 comes with an A9 architecture core as a low-end chip, and an overclocked version of the SGX531. Compared to Qualcomm's 7227 and the 7225A with insufficient sincerity and A5 architecture, I don't know where to go. And GPU performance is even more hanging up to play. In June of the same year, MediaTek launched the dual-core MT6577, hanging up the A5 dual-core Qualcomm 8225, and Since then Qualcomm has gradually begun to pay attention to the low-end market.
MediaTek has been mixed up in the mid-market, and it has begun to be dishonest and a little dreamy after a long time. In 2014, MediaTek released a true octa-core mobile phone processor in an attempt to impact the high-end market through a nuclear war. Of course, it is not enough to rush it on your own, you have to find allies. Qualcomm at this time in the impact of the low-end market, a look at MediaTek wants to steal the flagship processor, it is ready to slap MediaTek as a person. However, at this time, MediaTek became stronger, and it had to find allies to fight together.
Qualcomm began to prepare guys here, and the 835 knife castrated this generation of god U Snapdragon 660. MediaTek also made an X30 three-from-set ten-core 10nm processor to fight. The parameters are very good, but the scheduling is very cruel, and one core has difficult nine cores to watch. The actual experience is 660 silent seconds full. Qualcomm's side inserted its 660 into mediatek's pricing range through precision knife methods, while the allies used the same machine to have a small price difference between different cores. The cooperation between the two sides surrounded MediaTek. And MediaTek this side does not show weakness to make allies polish the high-end, but MediaTek not only processor technology can not win over the ally's technology is not good, the group beat to the half of their own allies actually joined the other side's group beating team, and finally MediaTek was beaten to the ground, this lie is 3 years.
MediaTek has temporarily withdrawn, and Qualcomm will usher in the strongest enemy in this life - HiSilicon Kirin!
The next issue will tell the story of the war between Qualcomm and HiSilicon Kirin