Qualcomm develops new AI super chip for China

Xiaomi, OnePlus, Realme and Honor announced devices with the new chip to try to compete with Apple and Samsung in AI

The latest smartphone chip from the market leader Qualcomm could give a much-needed boost to Chinese brands looking to compete with Apple ea Samsung Electronics in the race for artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

Qualcomm presented its Snapdragon 8 Elite last Monday (21), highlighting its ability to run generative AI models locally on devices. The cores Oryon are similar to those used in their chips for laptops with Windowsand the company has stated that the new chipset will offer a 45% increase in performance compared to the previous model.

A Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi will be the first to launch a device with the new chip, expected to be part of the series Xiaomi 15 at the end of October, as announced by the company’s senior vice president, Adam Zengduring the Qualcomm event. “The Xiaomi 15 series not only offers excellent performance, but also marks a new starting point in our partnership with Qualcomm,” Zeng told the audience.

Other Chinese brands such as Honor, OnePlus and Oppo e Realmealso revealed plans to incorporate the Snapdragon 8 Elite in future products. THE Realmea spin-off of Oppo, plans to launch the GT 7 Pro with the chip in November, part of its strategy to expand in the premium smartphone segment.

A Honora brand originating from Huawei Technologiesannounced that its next main line, the series Magic 7will be launched on October 30th and will feature Qualcomm’s new mobile platform. “We are excited to introduce the industry’s first AI agent to the open ecosystem and bring on-device generative AI to portrait photography and gaming with NPU computing technology [unidade de processamento neural] for the first time on devices,” said Honor CEO, George Zhao Mingin a statement.

AI capabilities have become the most important differentiator in the latest generation of smartphones, with big brands such as Apple, Google e Samsungdesigning its own chips with NPU cores for these functions.

A Samsungwhich also makes chips, uses a combination of its own processors Exynos and chips Snapdragon us models Galaxydepending on the version. The South Korean company announced that it will use the Snapdragon 8 Elite in their next releases.

Chinese smartphone makers have been stepping up efforts to improve their generative AI capabilities. The early update of iOS 18.1 from Apple will bring Apple Intelligence for iPhones in some countries, but it will be rolled out in a phased manner and will not be immediately available in China, where local brands are rushing to seize this opportunity.

Qualcomm has been a key partner for Android smartphone manufacturers, especially in the premium segment. Its global shipments of processors for smartphones grew in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, reaching 31% of the market, driven by the premium segment, according to data from Counterpoint Research.

A Taiwanese chip designer MediaTekknown for its more affordable processors, led the smartphone chipset market in the second quarter, with 32% of the global market, according to Counterpoint.

The successful expansion of design Oryon Qualcomm’s move from laptops to smartphones highlights its edge in chip development, according to Counterpoint senior analyst, William Li. “This move not only injects new vitality into the ecosystem, but will also have a profound impact on the development of the entire smartphone industry,” Li said last Tuesday.