Snapdragon 200-tier chips to become Qualcomm Mobile

Qualcomm has announced that its Snapdragon branding will now apply only to premium processors, while those in the 200 tier will be relabelled under the new "Qualcomm Mobile" brand in an effort to differentiate their value -- with the chip giant also moving away from processor branding towards "platforms".

"Moving forward, only premium mobile platforms will retain the Snapdragon brand, while processors in the 200 tier will fall under the new Qualcomm Mobile name," Qualcomm said in a blog post.

"Our belief is that bringing the 200-level mobile platforms under the new Qualcomm Mobile brand will help differentiate entry-level and high-volume solutions from our flagship and high-end Snapdragon premium mobile experience platforms. Our goal is to create better clarity and expectations for our customers."

Qualcomm is also now labelling its processors as "platforms".

According to Qualcomm, this rebranding will allow it to better demonstrate the acquisitions it has made to improve its place as a semiconductor player, as well as express that it has moved from mobile devices into such sectors as connected cars, mobile PCs, servers, IoT, wearables, drones, VR, and AR.

"The word [processor] is an inadequate representation of what the technology actually is, and the solutions that tens of thousands of Qualcomm Technologies innovators have worked on," Qualcomm said.

"Snapdragon is more than a single component, a piece of silicon, or what many would misinterpret as the CPU; it's an anthology of technology, comprising hardware, software, and services that are not fully captured in a word like 'processor'.

"That is why Qualcomm Technologies is refining our terminology by referring to Snapdragon as a 'platform' instead of a processor."

Qualcomm launched its latest Snapdragon platform in November, with the 835 family created in partnership with Samsung using the latter's 10-nanometer (nm) FinFET process technology, which provides an increase of approximately 30 percent in area efficiency, a 27 percent performance boost, and a 40 percent reduction in power consumption.

According to Qualcomm senior vice president of product management Keith Kressin, the Snapdragon 835 is smaller and higher powered than any of its predecessors.

"Using the new 10nm process node is expected to allow our premium tier Snapdragon 835 processor to deliver greater power efficiency and increase performance while also allowing us to add a number of new capabilities that can improve the user experience of tomorrow's mobile devices," Kressin said.

The Snapdragon 835 is expected to ship commercially in devices during the first half of 2017.