From PC Mag: Inexpensive phones are about to get a lot faster. Today Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 480, its first 5G chipset for phones that generally sell in the $200 range in the US.
Even if you're underwhelmed by 5G so far, though, the Snapdragon 480 has a lot to recommend itself, doubling low-end phones' CPU and GPU performance and adding support for full-HD 120Hz displays.
Qualcomm dominates the Android chipset market here in the US, but that isn't the case in the rest of the world. Vigorous competition from MediaTek in China and India has pushed the company into second place globally, according to Counterpoint Research. Depending on where you are, Samsung's Exynos chips also cut into Qualcomm's market share.
The competition is most intense in the popular price levels for developing countries—phones in the $100-$300 range. While US carriers don't seem much interested in providing the best possible handsets at that price point, there's a strong push toward low-cost innovation in lower-income countries.
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