- After previously hinting it would do so, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM -2%) has confirmed it plans to enter the budding ARM server CPU market. The company estimates the opportunity will be worth $15B by 2020, thanks in part to strong demand from Internet giants.
- AMD, Marvell, Texas Instruments, Cavium (CAVM -1.7%), and AppliedMicro (AMCC -4.1%) have already unveiled ARM server CPUs. CEO Steve Mollenkopf argues Qualcomm's ability to quickly adopt next-gen manufacturing processes will give it an edge. For now, Intel, which maintains a process lead over the foundries relied upon by ARM vendors, still controls the lion's share of the server CPU market.
- Qualcomm has also used its analyst day to unveil the Gobi 9x45, its 5th-gen LTE baseband modem. With the help of carrier aggregation, the 9x45 (due in 2015) supports max speeds of 450Mbps; the prior-gen 9x35 tops out at 300Mbps.
- The 9x45 is also said to deliver improved power consumption, and require less board space. A new version of Qualcomm's complementary envelope-tracking IC (lowers power draw) has been announced as well.
- Qualcomm still dominates the LTE baseband market, and is generally viewed as maintaining an edge in performance and frequency band support. But competition has picked up in recent quarters, thanks to new baseband launches from Intel, Samsung, and Nvidia.
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Earlier: Qualcomm lower after setting long-term targets