Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Others to Use Qualcomm 5G Modem With First Devices Coming in 2019

More than a dozen global smartphone and PC OEMs have tied up with Qualcomm to incorporate the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem on to their mobile devices. Qualcomm has said the first smartphones featuring its X50 5G NR modem will hit the market in 2019, with Chinese brand Vivo promising such a handset next year. Major mobile phone OEMs joining hands with Qualcomm to incorporate the 5G modem in their future smartphones include the likes of Xiaomi, Nokia brand licensee HMD Global, Sony, LG, HTC, Oppo, and ZTE.

Other OEMs that have partnered with Qualcomm are Fujitsu, Inseego/ Novatel Wireless, NetComm Wireless, Netgear, Sharp, Sierra Wireless, Telit, Wingtech, and WNC. Devices by these OEMs will be built around the sub-6GHz and millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum bands starting next year.

Apart from smartphones, the new Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem will be available on Always Connected PCs, Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) - including Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Extended Reality (XR) - and Mobile Broadband. Qualcomm claims this technology will offer faster browsing, faster downloads, better streaming, and instant cloud access on phones. The modem will enable high speed and low latency for Always Connected PCs, and ultra-low latency for HMDs.

"As evidenced by our work with these distinguished OEMs from around the globe and as we demonstrated in 3G and 4G LTE, Qualcomm Technologies is utilizing our deep expertise and technology leadership to support the successful launch of 5G NR, driving innovation in the mobile ecosystem," said Alex Katouzian, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Mobile, Qualcomm Technologies.

Separately, Qualcomm has also partnered with several wireless network operators in the above mentioned sub-6GHz and millimetre wave (mmWave) bands. These include AT&T, British Telecom, Sprint, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Verizon, Telstra, Singtel among others. The upcoming trials will combine Qualcomm's 5G platform and smartphone reference design with an aim to commercialise compliant 5G products later this year.

To further showcase this, planned demonstrations will be held at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Qualcomm booth is expected to have Snapdragon X50 modems reaching speeds of "several gigabits per second."

A HTC handset with 5G support, said to be the U12, was recently showcased at an industry event in Taiwan. The handset was shown delivering download speeds of 809.58Mbps.

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Nvidia's Upbeat Forecast Powered by Data Centre, Cryptocurrency Demand

Nvidia's upbeat current-quarter revenue forecast on Thursday underscored surging demand for its graphics chips used in data centres, gaming devices and cryptocurrency mining, sending its shares up as much as 12 percent in extended trading.

The company, which also reported better-than-expected quarterly results, is reaping the benefits from the launch of its Volta chip architecture last year. Volta processors power a range of technologies such as artificial intelligence and driverless cars.

"Virtually every internet and cloud service provider has embraced our Volta GPUs," Nvidia's Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said in a statement.

Graphic chips were initially developed to handle graphics for high-end video games and other computers. These chips help share the processing load from the main chip, making it easier and faster to run high-end applications.

These chips are now being widely used in new technologies, like artificial intelligence, machine learning.

Revenue from Nvidia's widely watched data centre business, which counts Microsoft Corp's Azure cloud business as its customer, more than doubled to $606 million (roughly Rs. 3,900 crores).
That trounced analysts' average estimate of $541.1 million.

Nvidia also sells chips to Amazon.com's Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is duelling with Microsoft to handle data and computing for large enterprises
Data centre should continue to grow pretty nicely into calendar 2018 and beyond, Morningstar analyst Abhinav Davuluri said.

The boom in cryptocurrencies is also powering demand for chips from Nvidia and rival AMD as they provide the high computing ability required for cryptocurrency "mining."
"Strong demand in the cryptocurrency market exceeded our expectations," Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said on a conference call.

"While the overall contribution of cryptocurrency to our business remains difficult to quantify, we believe it was a higher percentage of revenue than the prior quarter."

The company said inventory levels of its gaming GPUs throughout the quarter was lower than historical channel inventory levels due to surging demand from cryptocurrency miners.

The price of Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, rose more than 1,300 percent in 2017. Prices have, however, dropped about 40 percent this year.

Nvidia's revenue from gaming, for which it is best known, rose 29 percent to $1.74 billion (roughly Rs. 11,200 crores), accounting for a more than half of its total revenue in the fourth quarter, and also beating analysts' estimate of $1.59 billion.

The company forecast current-quarter revenue of $2.90 billion, plus or minus 2 percent, well above the analysts' average estimate of $2.47 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Net income rose to $1.12 billion, or $1.78 per share, in the fourth quarter ended January 28 from $655 million, or 99 cents per share, a year earlier.

Results include a $133 million gain related to the new US tax law.
Total revenue rose 34 percent to $2.91 billion, topping estimate of $2.69 billion.
Excluding items, the company said it earned $1.72 per share.
Nvidia earned $1.57 per share, excluding the tax benefit, according to Thomson Reuters, beating estimate of $1.17.

The company's shares were trading at $233 in extended trading. They have surged about 83 percent in the past 12 months.

© Thomson Reuters 2018

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