Qualcomm Promises First Mid-Range Snapdragon 710 Smartphones

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) unveiled Snapdragon 710 Mobile Platform, its first entry into the Snapdragon 700-series SoC (System on Chip) platform, an upgraded variant of the Snapdragon 660. Notably, the technology comes with better performance characteristics of the SoC. The Snapdragon 710, released by its subsidiary Qualcomm Technologies will enable users experience the sophisticated flagship smartphone features on mid-range devices.

Experience High-End Features on Mid-Range Smartphones

The Snapdragon 710 chipset is designed on 10nM process technology, the same as that of Snapdragon 845, which powers high-end flagship smartphones like the Samsung (KS:005930) Galaxy S9+. The mobile platform runs on X15 LTE modem, supporting high download rates. The 710 also uses 4X4 MIMO and LAA (License-Assisted Access) technologies to increase data connectivity performance.

Snapdragon 710: A Revolution

With the new mobile platform, Qualcomm will make it possible for companies to manufacture mid-range smartphones with features of an expensive smartphone. The multi-core AI Engine, neural network processing capabilities, image signal processors and graphic units that are primarily found in expensive chipsets, will form the structure of Snapdragon 710. This will provide users with high-end advanced features like Face ID and Animoji but in select mid-tier smartphones.

There are various other star features of the new chipset including 4K HDR playback, which enhances visual quality of HDR videos and apps. Further, Snapdragon 710 features Qualcomm Spectra 250 ISP, sporting professional-grade characteristics like superior low light photography, noise reduction, image stabilization and fast autofocus. This feature will make professional quality pictures possible with resolutions up to 32MP single ISP and 20MP dual ISP on reasonably priced smartphones.

The platform uses an Adreno GPU to check power consumption by about 40% compared with the version of Snapdragon 660. Consumers will also get the benefit of recovering up to 50% of phone battery power within 15 minutes. This gain can be attributed to the Quick Charge 4+ feature.

The Snapdragon 710 Mobile Platform is now available for device manufacturers and is expected to be available in consumer devices in the second quarter of 2018.

Price Performance

Due to headwind factors like regulatory issues and Qualcomm’s inability to close its $38-billion buyout of NXP Semiconductors, in the past 12 months, the stock has underperformed the industry’s 6% rise with an average return of 0.6%.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Qualcomm currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks from the same industry are BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) plus Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) and Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBNT) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

BlackBerry has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 18.6%.

Motorola has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 8%.

Ubiquiti has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 18.6%.

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