Qualcomm (QCOM) Debuts On XR Platform With Snapdragon XR1

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) has unveiled the world’s first dedicated Extended Reality (XR) platform, the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1, at the backdrop of the annual Augmented World Expo. The XR1 Platform was rolled out by the company’s subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Qualcomm Takes the Next Step in Mobile VR Space

The communication technology firm has been dedicatedly working toward maintaining its dominance in the mobile virtual reality (VR) community for the past few years, continuously developing and improving on both hardware and software. These efforts are reflected in the launch of the Snapdragon XR1, which encompasses VR, augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality platforms. The XR1 Platform contains all the necessary materials required for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to build next generation AR and VR devices. It has diverse compute architecture, including an AI engine. This will enable richer interactive experiences with better power and thermal efficiency. The company also announced that OEMs Meta, VIVE, Vuzix and Pico have already adopted the XR1 platform and started developing it.

Star Features of the New Snapdragon XR1

The platform’s support for ultra HD 4K video playback at up to 60 frames per second will enable a unique experience of watching movies or sports with reduced snapshot noise, wider range of display options with hardware driven composition, dual-display, advanced vision processing capabilities, which will allow locomotion in the virtual world or interaction with augmented objects in an AR experience.

The audio experience is also expected to be phenomenal with the company’s existing technologies like 3D Audio Suite, Qualcomm Aqstic Audio Technologies and Qualcomm aptX Audio, enabling dynamic headroom experience. Additionally, there are also features like Bluetooth playback and “always-on, always-listening” voice assistance. Further, the head-related transfer functions allow the experience of binaural audio, creating a 3D-like sound.

The platform boasts three and six degrees of freedom head tracking and controller capabilities, introducing mainstream users to an XR playground, which will allow them to move about, interact and play within this virtual world.

Strategy to Address an Important Market Gap

The company is aware that a good part of the consumer community believes that AR and VR devices are expensive and difficult to assemble, forcing them to opt for standalone devices rather than smartphone-dependent options. This market gap led Qualcomm to push the Snapdragon XR1 platform in the market. Being placed in slightly lower tier than the flagship Snapdragon 845 Xtended Reality platform, the XR1 is expected to complement the latter.

Will the XR1 Prove to be a Profit-Generating Platform?

Going by the fact that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1 is the first platform purely dedicated to XR, this technological innovation is likely to lead to a rise in new orders for the company and boost revenues. The company hopes that the leading device manufacturers will use the technology to build successful products. These products, in turn, are expected to drive the company’s profit generation.

Price Performance

The stock has outperformed the industry in the past month, yielding 14.1% return compared with 5.2% rise for the latter.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Qualcomm currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the industry space are BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 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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