- Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 on July 30th, an entry-level chip designed to make 5G accessible to 2.8 billion smartphone users in price-sensitive markets, including India and Latin America.
- Qualcomm aims to fill the significant gap in the sub-$100 smartphone segment, where 5G models have been scarce, addressing the needs of price-sensitive markets like India and Latin America.
OUR TAKE
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 is a smart play for the budget-conscious crowd. It’s like a gateway drug to 5G for India and Latin America, where folks have been stuck with slow speeds. Remember when 4G first hit those markets? It was a game-changer. Now, Qualcomm’s targeting the under-$100 space where 5G’s been MIA. Xiaomi’s jumping on it, and that’s a big deal. It shows that even with limitations, like no non-standalone 5G, the demand for faster speeds is real. This could shake up the entry-level market, forcing other manufacturers to up their game and bring down prices. After all, who doesn’t want a taste of the future without breaking the bank?
–Miurio huang, BTW reporter
What happenedSnapdragon 4 Gen 2
Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 on July 30th, an entry-level chip designed to make 5G accessible to 2.8 billion smartphone users in price-sensitive markets, including India and Latin America.
This move targets the significant gap in the sub-$100 segment, where 5G models have been scarce. The Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip, a feature-limited version of the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 launched in June last year, is based on 4nm process technology. It includes an octa-core Kryo CPU, with two performance cores supporting up to 2GHz clock speed and six efficiency cores at up to 1.8GHz.
Unlike its predecessor, the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 lacks support for non-standalone 5G networks, which allow telcos to offer high-speed connectivity using existing network assets. Instead, it supports connectivity through standalone 5G deployment. Xiaomi plans to launch its first device based on this new chip in India later this year.
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Why it’s important
Qualcomm aims to fill the significant gap in the sub-$100 smartphone segment, where 5G models have been scarce, addressing the needs of price-sensitive markets like India and Latin America.
Manufacturers have struggled to attract feature phone buyers in India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market, due to the lack of affordable 5G models.
According to IDC, the entry-level segment in the Indian smartphone market declined by 14% year-on-year to a 15% share, with 5.1 million units shipped in the first quarter.
Cost-cutting measures have enabled Qualcomm to reduce the price of the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chip, making it feasible for future lower-end 5G phones in India and other emerging markets. This development could drive more competition in the lower price segment and build momentum for 5G adoption in these regions.
