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Semiconductor industry

Qualcomm Enters Mini-Laptop Market with Snapdragon Chip

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Qualcomm, a leading chipmaker, is poised to enter the mini-laptop market with its newly developed Snapdragon chip, aiming to challenge Intel in the netbook sector. The company's vice-president, Dan Novak, announced that more than 30 models of smartbooks, a new category of highly portable devices, will be launched by 15 computer and mobile-telephone makers in the second half of the year. Smartbooks combine the functionality of smartphones and laptops, offering a unique experience with better battery life and constant internet connection capability.

Key Takeaways:

  • Qualcomm's Snapdragon chip is designed to power a new generation of mini-laptops, known as smartbooks, which will bridge the functional divide between smartphones and laptops.
  • Over 30 models of smartbooks are expected to be launched by 15 computer and mobile-telephone makers in the second half of the year.
  • Smartbooks will offer a new consumer experience with better battery life and constant internet connection capability, leveraging on cloud computing technology.
  • Qualcomm's experience in making mobile-telephone chips has extended the battery life of smartbooks to eight to 10 hours on a single charge.
  • Unlike netbooks, which run on Microsoft's Windows XP operating system, smartbooks will primarily run on the Linux system.
  • Qualcomm has no plans to develop Windows x86-based smartbooks, but may support other operating systems, such as Android and Symbian.

Statistics:

  • 13 million netbooks were shipped last year.
  • Prices of netbooks are expected to fall below $350 later this year, according to Pyramid Research.
  • Smartbooks can be designed with a screen as small as 4.1 inches, weighing only 2 pounds and 20 millimeters thin.
  • Smartbooks can last all day on a single battery charge, connected through 3G mobile network, Wi-Fi, and global positioning system (GPS).

Sources:

  • "Qualcomm to Launch Mini-Personal Computers Using Snapdragon" by Bloomberg News
  • "Qualcomm Developing Smartbooks with Microsoft" by CNET
  • "Qualcomm Enters Mini-Laptop Market" by CNBC
  • Pyramid Research

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