Samsung’s chip manufacturing arm received a large order last year to manufacture the Snapdragon 888 processor using the 5nm process. It looks like the South Korean company has won another Qualcomm order, and it appears that Samsung will soon be ready with its more advanced manufacturing process.
Qualcomm yesterday announced two new 5G modems – Snapdragon X62 and Snapdragon X65 – and they were built using a 4nm process. Although the company has not announced who will manufacture the new 5G chips, the people are going to AnandTech believe they are manufactured using Samsung’s 4nm (4LPE) process. This could be an improved version of the current 5nm (5LPE) process.
The Snapdragon X65 is the world’s first 5G modem that can reach download speeds of up to 10Gbps. Qualcomm has increased the number of frequency bands and bandwidth that can be used in a smartphone. In the sub-6GHz frequency range, the bandwidth has been increased from 200MHz to 300MHz, which has a 50% improvement in the aggregation. In the mmWave frequency range, the bandwidth has been increased from 800MHz to 1000MHz, and it supports the TDD 41GHz n259 band.
The Snapdragon X62 is a finished version of the Snapdragon X65 modem. Its sub-6GHz spectrum bandwidth is 120MHz and mmWave bandwidth is 300MHz across four carriers. This 5G modem is aimed at use in cheaper smartphones. Both new 5G modems are currently being tested by brands, and we can expect them to appear in smartphones later this year.
