Qualcomm looking to fast-track Snapdragon 820 with help from Samsung

From PC World: A plan by Qualcomm to get Samsung Electronics to make its Snapdragon 820 chip could lead to faster smartphones, offering longer battery life by early next year.

The chip company will get its top-line device manufactured in factories belonging to Samsung, according to a news report by Re/code. The South Korean company will make the Snapdragon 820 chip using the 14-nanometer process, which will also be used to make Apple’s next A9 chip.

The Snapdragon 820 chip was announced last month at Mobile World Congress and is expected to start shipping later this year. Qualcomm hasn’t shared information about where it will be manufactured, but Samsung’s 14-nm process will provide big performance and power advantages over current Snapdragon chips.

The move to 14-nanometer process means users may be able to buy smartphones with Qualcomm’s latest chips quicker than expected, said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

An advanced manufacturing process will help pack more features on a smaller chip, McGregor said. Qualcomm will be able to integrate more multimedia and wireless features on the chip.

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