Qualcomm expands chipset line for Snapdragon S4 mobile processors

Chip maker Qualcomm has announced that it is adding two chipsets to the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 family of mobile processors. The QRD versions of these particular Qualcomm Snapdragon processors—the QRD8226 and QRD8626 will be available for sampling by the second quarter of 2013.

The company has also said that, it will be releasing Qualcomm Reference Design (QRD) versions of both MSM8226 and MSM8626 processors. With the addition of these new chipsets, Qualcomm aims to lead the global semiconductor industry in 2012.

Qualcomm has received a double-digit increase in sales this year and is now the world’s third-largest chip maker, according to research firm IHS iSuppli. The company has achieved a 27.2 percent growth in semiconductor revenue, which makes Qualcomm only profitable player in the market. IHS said that, this represents the highest rate of growth of any Top 10 or even any Top 20 semiconductor supplier.

The market research firm reckons that the growth will allow Qualcomm to move up three positions and take third place in the global semiconductor business. “The expansion of our Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 family extends our leadership in performance and low power for the high-volume smartphones,” said Cristiano Amon, executive vice president and co-president of mobile and computing products, Qualcomm Technologies.

The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processors with quad-core CPUs will bring premium multimedia and connectivity features to high-volume 3G handsets. The reference design features Adreno 305 GPU, 1080p capture and playback, and up to a 13-megapixel camera. Both processors will be ready for customer sampling by the second quarter of 2013 for UMTS, CDMA and TD-SCDMA.