Qualcomm Reportedly Building Its Own Gaming Smartphones

A report coming from DigiTimes suggests that Qualcomm is going to launch its own brand of gaming smartphones. Yes! You heard it right. The report claims that these smartphones could launch before the end of 2020, and will be made in partnership with Asus.

This partnership will reportedly involve Asus designing and developing the hardware, while Qualcomm will be responsible for the “industry design” and “software integration optimising its Snapdragon 875 platform.”

RELATED READING: THE ULTIMATE SMARTPHONE GAMING CHIP – QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 865+ LAUNCHED

A source told DigiTimes that Qualcomm and Asus aim to produce about a million phones a year, with half of these being Qualcomm-branded gaming phones. The other half will be Asus’s ROG Phone brand.

The agreement between Qualcomm and Asus will reportedly include the pair purchasing certain components for both the Qualcomm smartphone and Asus’s ROG phones.

This would help to save on costs due to buying components in bulk, making it possible for these smartphones to be more affordable than would otherwise be the case.

Components that would be purchased as part of the joint agreement include displays, memory, camera modules, batteries, and cooling solutions. While no specifications are available, it is believed that these smartphones will target the high-end gaming smartphone market.

This could include features such as high refresh rate screens, high-end cooling solutions, and a large battery. The most notable feature, however, is that the smartphone would use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 875 processor, which is expected to launch at the end of 2020.

New iPhones on the way

While the Qualcomm-branded smartphones would only arrive at the end of the year at the absolute earliest, Apple’s iPhone 12 range is set to launch on 13 October.

These iPhones will offer 5G connectivity, bringing Apple’s range up to standard with the likes of Huawei and Samsung, which already support this high-speed connectivity.

Other features that are expected to form part of the new iPhone range include upgraded cameras, faster processors, and a wider range of screen sizes.

These new iPhones will also reportedly have the most significant redesign since the iPhone X launched in 2017, with squared-off sides replacing the current rounded edges.