2018 has been the year for POCO F1, Xiaomi Mi 9, OnePlus 6T and many other phones offering some of the phones specific market cutting information, at a price that was far higher than the four figures some manufacturers are already starting to request for their smart smartphones.
Y things have not changed much in 2019: even though OnePlus has decided to bend the league large With its 7 Pro, the gap it left was staying at institutions such as the Redmi K30 Pro, realme X2 Pro, ASUS ZenFone 6 or Xiaomi Mi 9 itself. a very powerful mobile processor from the Qualcomm factories until then.
But from one day to the next, the picture seems to have completely changed. Poola & # 39; s mobile phone is now a mid-range phone. Xiaomi's Mi 10 series is so expensive compared to the previous installment that Xiaomi has had to go out and announce price increases, OnePlus has also confirmed that the OnePlus 8 series will be more expensive, and indeed It has failed to keep up the excellent price of its previous X2 Pro on the new X50 Pro 5G, its base price of around 200 euros. All of this leads us to ask ourselves the question: What happens at a cheaper higher price?
Assistant? The chip is very expensive
All the aforementioned mobiles have something in common: are based on Qualcomm's platforms, mostly from the top Snapdragon 800 series.
And despite the fact that they are expensive chips from Qualcomm due to the complexity of their production and the cost of the technology they cover, so far the manufacturers would seem to have no problem Use Snapdragon 800 chips in series with inexpensive phones. That, however, has changed with the advent of the new Snapdragon 865, as the one that promised to be the new king of companies operating on Android devices by 2020 has finally closed the boat for an affordable end. And all, thanks to 5G.
Unlike other chips like Snapdragon 765, also made by Qualcomm, Snapdragon 865 does not include 5G integrated modem, and as a result manufacturers need to create an extra outlay to get the module and install it on their phones, thus giving them compatibility with 5G networks. So, the solution seems simple: uninstalling a 5G modem and continue to create terminals with the Snapdragon 865 chip without having to increase – significantly – the retail price. Unfortunately it is not that easy.
For the purpose of promoting the advent of an additional "5G" mobile phone, Qualcomm manufacturers force consumers to buy the processor in conjunction with the X55 5G modem unlike what happened last year with the Snapdragon 855 chip, because it was in the hands of the manufacturers to decide that they would put the X50 5G modem on their edge to take advantage of the higher purchase price. So, phones like the Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 5G or Galaxy S10 5G – which is different from the Snapdragon chip – are more expensive than their versions without a 5G connection.
This, of course, is the result higher production costs for manufacturers, which ultimately affects consumers through a highest selling price of devices.
And if you think the difference is too big to justify such a price increase, just look at the data. Xiaomi himself said that chip and mod cost of the Mi 10 its price of the processor used in the last generation. In addition, a well-known commentator Ming-Chi Kuo it is estimated that the "package" price containing the Snapdragon 865 and X55 modem is close. $ 120 or $ 130, while last year the price of the Snapdragon 855 – without the 5G mod – seems like about $ 70.
And we should not forget that we are talking about products that, in general, keep margin of profit low in those firms such as Samsung, Google or Apple, so processor costs represent a large percentage of the final retail price of their devices. Therefore, any increase in the cost of any of its components may influence the final price rather than in the case of brand terminals with a higher profit.
The solution? Set the numbers aside
After all, it may not be too late revitalizing the less expensive end by 2020, and all shows that some firms are already profitable other ways to avoid increasing your next price flagsEven those in charge of their institutions are not the highest, most accurate part.
This is the case with Google, according to recent rumors exploring the possibility introduced the new Google Pixel 5 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 processor, a reduced version of the Snapdragon 865 aimed at a premium mid-range or less expensive, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, is provided by manufacturers the price is around $ 40. Less than half of what Snapdragon 865 can cost, except that the difference in terms of the leading model is less obvious on paper, and less so when we talk about the effect they give day by day. Ironically, in addition, this planet has a 5G integrated module, although this transfer of support is somehow faster than the X55 modem.
| Genres | Snapdragon 865 | Snapdragon 765 |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Kryo 585 cores 1x 2.85GHz (Cortex A77) 3x 2.4GHz (Cortex A77) 4x 1.8GHz (Cortex-A55) |
Kryo 475 cores 1x 2.3GHz (Cortex-A76) 1x 2.2GHz (Cortex-A76) 6x 1.8GHz (Cortex-A55) |
| GPU | Adreno 650 | Adreno 620 |
| Process | 7 nanometer TSMC | Samsung 7 nanometer FinFET |
| DPS | Hexagon 698 | Hexagon 696 |
| Cameras | Support up to 1x 200 MP / 64 MP with Zero Shutter Lag / 2 × 64 MP Hybrid autofocus, HDR video, multi-frame audio reduction |
Support up to 1x 192 MP / 32 MP with Zero Shutter Lag / 2 × 22 MP |
| Video recording | Up to 8K – 30fps, 4K UHD – 120fps, 720p – 960fps Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10 +, HEVC |
4K UHD – 60fps, 720p – 480fps HDR10, HDR10 +, HLG, HEVC |
| Fast charging | Qualcomm 4+ instant charge Qualcomm AI fast charge |
Qualcomm 4+ instant charge Qualcomm AI fast charge |
| Modem | X55 5G Until 7500 Mbps download again 3000 Mbps upload |
Snapdragon X52 5G / LTE 5G – up to 3700 Mbps upload and 3000 Mbps downloads 4G – up to 1200 Mbps upload and 210 Mbps downloads |
The question is, Can this step really work? Firms like Poco have already opted to launch their new reference centers using a processor other than Snapdragon 865 and offer less power with screen-like installations with higher refresh rates, faster and faster memory technology or faster charging systems. All this, without raising the price compared to the previous generation, something would not have been possible had the latest chip in the Snapdragon 800 series been used.
It could also be that soon, Qualcomm is launching its standard update with the "Plus" name of its chip in high end, and significantly reduce the cost of the original version. If so, it is not decided that manufacturers can start launching phones based on the Snapdragon 865 platform at lower prices.
Finally, at least by 2020, and until the cost of production of 5G chips is reduced to the "normal" processor level and everything goes back to normal, it would be a good idea set aside the statistics, and start appreciating all the other useful or useful things every day, instead of words and a list of processors that, after all, mean little. Is that the case, or do you often see that prices above 600 euros become commonplace within the high range … cheaper?
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