Is Qualcomm thoroughly defeated by Apple in SOC?

[Technarchy]

Correct and the Samsung UX is actually beautiful and futuristic unlike some others.

I’m a snob. I find most versions of android to be repugnant and feature bereft except for Samsung’s flavor.

I tried the whole vanilla android thing twice and thought it was lame despite the additional responsiveness here and there. It’s way lacking compared to the Samsung Experience.

I have zero interest in Pixels, +1, or whatever.

 

[bufffilm]

The main takeaway for me from Tsepz's video was the ip8's battery life and how it beats the ip7. This surprised me in a good way as I was skeptical on the A11 and how efficient it would be.

The omission of the Samsung S8 was very deliberate. It should have been included this test.

 

[heov]

Defeated lol? Are they even directly competing?! Qualcomm's market and Apple's market are mutually exclusive.

The only way they are competing is if a phone user buys an iPhone because of the CPU, which we all know is usually not the deciding factor (screen, camera, ecosystem, SOFTWARE, etc play larger roles). Look to these forums. People buy iPhones because it's Apple and iOS.

Qualcomm makes chips for Android phones. Apple makes chips for iPhones.

 

[bufffilm]

Qualcomm owns CDMA so they will be around whether you care or not.

Here is the US, Verizon is a big player.

 

[Michael Goff]

You know the one place where Qualcomm is definitely losing horribly? Wearables. It's like they didn't even try making a good wearable processor.

 

[swein1992]

Qualcomm owns CDMA so they will be around whether you care or not.

Here is the US, Verizon is a big player.

Exactly! Qualcomm’s biggest strength is actually the modem. That’s why even though Samsung has their own chip design house, they still use Qualcomm in markets with CDMA carriers. Now Qualcomm’s patents will expire in 2019 so it will be a good show for us.

 

[Michael Goff]

Exactly! Qualcomm’s biggest strength is actually the modem. That’s why even though Samsung has their own chip design house, they still use Qualcomm in markets with CDMA carriers. Now Qualcomm’s patents will expire in 2019 so it will be a good show for us.

Just in time to be locked in by LTE and 5G patents.

 

[bufffilm]

Exactly! Qualcomm’s biggest strength is actually the modem. That’s why even though Samsung has their own chip design house, they still use Qualcomm in markets with CDMA carriers. Now Qualcomm’s patents will expire in 2019 so it will be a good show for us.

But certainly Qualcomm faces some challenges.

Intel looks to push ever deeper with Apple and that is sure to hurt them.

 

[AustinIllini]

But certainly Qualcomm faces some challenges.

Intel looks to push ever deeper with Apple and that is sure to hurt them.

Maybe, but Intel is a lot worse than the Qualcomm offering.

 

[Tsepz]

I’m a snob. I find most versions of android to be repugnant and feature bereft except for Samsung’s flavor.

I tried the whole vanilla android thing twice and thought it was lame despite the additional responsiveness here and there. It’s way lacking compared to the Samsung Experience.

I have zero interest in Pixels, +1, or whatever.

Glad I am not the only one who dislikes "Vanilla Android". I find it incredibly mundane and lacking in a lot of things.

I remember back in the S2 and S3 days I genuinely gave Vanilla Android a go by installing vanilla custom ROMs, like the SlimROMS that were based off Nexus devices, I could not believe how much was missing vs. TiuchWiz UI at the time, I eventually stopped installing those ROMs as I realised they took away functionality.

I'm happy for those who like vanilla Android, but it ain't for me.

You know what I hate? People who are forever wanting every single Android to come with "Pure Android", you know how boring the Android scene would be if every damn OEM did the same thing and just put in a few apps? I. So sick of reading posts from people saying OEMs must use "Pure Android".


If every OEM used "Pure/Vanilla Android" , this OS would have met the safe fate as Windows Phone, where there was barely any differentiation, every phone looked the damn same and did the same damn thing in the same freakin way. No competition.

 

[bufffilm]

Maybe, but Intel is a lot worse than the Qualcomm offering.

It is...but Intel will price it cheaper and when you sell in the quantities Apple does, cost savings is sizable.

Apple doesn't care the Intel is not as good.

Any of that Apple no-stone-unturned approach died with Jobs.

 

[FFR]

Glad I am not the only one who dislikes "Vanilla Android". I find it incredibly mundane and lacking in a lot of things.

I remember back in the S2 and S3 days I genuinely gave Vanilla Android a go by installing vanilla custom ROMs, like the SlimROMS that were based off Nexus devices, I could not believe how much was missing vs. TiuchWiz UI at the time, I eventually stopped installing those ROMs as I realised they took away functionality.

I'm happy for those who like vanilla Android, but it ain't for me.

You know what I hate? People who are forever wanting every single Android to come with "Pure Android", you know how boring the Android scene would be if every damn OEM did the same thing and just put in a few apps? I. So sick of reading posts from people saying OEMs must use "Pure Android".


If every OEM used "Pure/Vanilla Android" , this OS would have met the safe fate as Windows Phone, where there was barely any differentiation, every phone looked the damn same and did the same damn thing in the same freakin way. No competition.

Other than Samsung. Almost all android oems are releasing vanilla or close to vanilla android.
Sony, Motorola, Nokia, Lenovo, essenrial, and one plus to name a few.
Even Xiaomi released a stock android called the mi a1.

Looks like the trend is towards vanilla android.

 

[Technarchy]

Other than Samsung. Almost all android oems are releasing vanilla or close to vanilla android.
Sony, Motorola, Nokia, Lenovo, essenrial, and one plus to name a few.
Even Xiaomi released a stock android called the mi a1.

Looks like the trend is towards vanilla android.

Most don’t have the money, tech, talent or capacity to do what Samsung does with android and support it.

 

[widgeteer]

Glad I am not the only one who dislikes "Vanilla Android". I find it incredibly mundane and lacking in a lot of things.

I remember back in the S2 and S3 days I genuinely gave Vanilla Android a go by installing vanilla custom ROMs, like the SlimROMS that were based off Nexus devices, I could not believe how much was missing vs. TiuchWiz UI at the time, I eventually stopped installing those ROMs as I realised they took away functionality.

I'm happy for those who like vanilla Android, but it ain't for me.

You know what I hate? People who are forever wanting every single Android to come with "Pure Android", you know how boring the Android scene would be if every damn OEM did the same thing and just put in a few apps? I. So sick of reading posts from people saying OEMs must use "Pure Android".


If every OEM used "Pure/Vanilla Android" , this OS would have met the safe fate as Windows Phone, where there was barely any differentiation, every phone looked the damn same and did the same damn thing in the same freakin way. No competition.

I like stock but I agree in spirit with your post. And as Essential proved, vanilla Android doesn’t guarantee smooth performance.

 

[Michael Goff]

Other than Samsung. Almost all android oems are releasing vanilla or close to vanilla android.
Sony, Motorola, Nokia, Lenovo, essenrial, and one plus to name a few.
Even Xiaomi released a stock android called the mi a1.

Looks like the trend is towards vanilla android.

And I'm glad Samsung is pushing Android forward with their efforts.

 

[bufffilm]

I like stock but I agree in spirit with your post. And as Essential proved, vanilla Android doesn’t guarantee smooth performance.

Is that's what wrong w/the Essential phone?

I really didn't read many reviews...I did think for $700 it was priced a bit high.

 

[grkm3]

The last 2 updates to my s8 have made the phone feel like a new hardware update.

It's running ice cold and so snappy like a next gen phone(like going from gs5 to gs6 etc)

 

[Tsepz]

Other than Samsung. Almost all android oems are releasing vanilla or close to vanilla android.
Sony, Motorola, Nokia, Lenovo, essenrial, and one plus to name a few.
Even Xiaomi released a stock android called the mi a1.

Looks like the trend is towards vanilla android.

Yet none of them are really that big. The big 3, Samsung, Huawei and LG do their own custom UIs.

HTC in their heydays had the stunning SenseUI, they stuck out from the crowd, now they look like every other vanilla Android.

 

[macgeek18]

The A series chips are screamers. The A9X is still a top of the line chip that competes with the i5 in my MacBook. I’m on my Mini 2 and the A7 may be old but is holding up better than the 808 in my 2015 BlackBerry Priv which is seriously messed up. Way to go Apple on the high end SoCs.

 

[Michael Goff]

The A series chips are screamers. The A9X is still a top of the line chip that competes with the i5 in my MacBook. I’m on my Mini 2 and the A7 may be old but is holding up better than the 820 in my 2015 BlackBerry Priv which is seriously messed up. Way to go Apple on the high end SoCs.

The Priv had an 808, not an 820. The 820 came out in 2016.

 

[Shanghaichica]

It doesn’t matter how much power is in the A series chips because 90% goes unused. In real life it doesn’t hold any weight because I can do exactly the same things on my note 8 as I can do on my iPhone 7 Plus. The extra horse power has no real benefit to me.

 

[bufffilm]

It doesn’t matter how much power is in the A series chips because 90% goes unused. In real life it doesn’t hold any weight because I can do exactly the same things on my note 8 as I can do on my iPhone 7 Plus. The extra horse power has no real benefit to me.

Maybe in games will the full power be used?

I would rather see further efficiencies in power, but that doesn't get headlines...

 

[fischersd]

Just in time to be locked in by LTE and 5G patents.

Well, it's not quite the same....Qualcomm owned CDMA, newer protocols have been co-developed with other companies. Supposedly more than 50 companies claim patents in LTE and 5G technologies. It's not going to be the royalty bonanza that CDMA was for Qualcomm....the net result may be a wash - only time will tell how those negotiations shake out.

The best thing for them is to continue to outperform Intel with their modems...if they continue to do that, most handset makers won't be utilizing Intel as the speeds make their handsets more competitive (provided they're not throttled by the carriers, that is)

 

[Shanghaichica]

Maybe in games will the full power be used?

I would rather see further efficiencies in power, but that doesn't get headlines...

There aren’t any games that make use of raw power. The same games can be played on android flagships with significantly less processing power.

 

[AustinIllini]

Well, it's not quite the same....Qualcomm owned CDMA, newer protocols have been co-developed with other companies. Supposedly more than 50 companies claim patents in LTE and 5G technologies. It's not going to be the royalty bonanza that CDMA was for Qualcomm....the net result may be a wash - only time will tell how those negotiations shake out.

The best thing for them is to continue to outperform Intel with their modems...if they continue to do that, most handset makers won't be utilizing Intel as the speeds make their handsets more competitive (provided they're not throttled by the carriers, that is)

Good point. CDMA is not going to be a factor for much longer. If you're Qualcomm, though, you just try to maximize your influence. Android OEMs know you have superior performance and name recognition.