- 5B non-smartphone connected devices will be sold by the end of 2018, Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) predicts at a press event highlighting its efforts to profit from the IoT chip market's rapid growth.
- Qualcomm notes it expects to get over 10% of its FY15 (ends Sep. '15) chip sales for devices other than mobile phones. The company has cumulatively sold chips for 20M Web-connected cars, and its Atheros Wi-Fi/Bluetooth unit sold chips for 120M connected home devices last year.
- Qualcomm/Atheros used the event to show off a pair of IoT-focused Wi-Fi chips - the QCA401x and QCA4531. The 401x, aimed at giving embedded device makers a small/low-power solution that can be quickly designed into hardware, comes with a built-in microcontroller and a communications protocol stack. The 4531 is aimed at more powerful devices: It contains a 650MHz. CPU, supports embedded Linux, and can function either as a Wi-Fi node or hub/access point.
- Like Qualcomm, Intel, Broadcom, and Texas Instruments are also going after the IoT chip market with some mixture of CPU, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth offerings, as well as integrated SoCs and modules. Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) recently launched Artik, a family of IoT hardware modules containing a CPU, memory, and related software tools. One Artik module supports Bluetooth, and another both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.