More mobile-fuelled competition for PSP and DS.
Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor is making its way into an increasing number of smartphones, several of which have debuted at Mobile World Congress this week.
However, by the end of 2010, it could be inside devices providing competition for handheld games consoles like Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS, according to Mark Frankel, Qualcomm's VP of product management.
"There will be, by the end of this year, specific game-centric platforms launched around Snapdragon," he tells ME.
"You'll be able to see clearly that gaming is the main focus of those devices. There'll be a category of gaming devices that hasn't been on the marketplace before using Snapdragon."
Frankel is also bullish about the emerging smartbook sector, which includes tablets as well as more traditional laptop form factors.
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"Apple is giving the whole category a boost with iPad," he said. "I think there'll be more light thin clamshell-type devices, and more light thin tablet devices. But the more portable this converged product space is, the more user demand there'll be for 3G connectivity."
It's a line of argument that several companies have been using when it comes to iPad. Even though there'll be 3G versions of the device, the fact that the basic model will be Wi-Fi only is being seized on as a potential weak point by rivals - the same rivals who are using Qualcomm's technology, presumably.
"What's a tablet without [3G] connectivity?" says Frankel. "What's the sense in carrying round such a light, thin product if you have to search for the internet hotspots to connect?"
But getting back to Snapdragon, Frankel hinted at Qualcomm's future plans for the processor, which appear to extend as far as a 2GHz version.
"We're starting to see a 'Gigahertz race' in the industry, where the higher number has to be better," he said.
"A number of announcements here at Mobile World Congress seem to be taking that tack, but we don't think all Gigahertz's are created equal. If you take a core designed to operate at one speed and push it to a completely different speed to be in that Gigahertz race, you'll get a significant power penalty."
It's not that Qualcomm isn't in the race, though.
"We'll design for 1GHz, 1.5GHz, 2GHz... and we'll make the right power/performance tradeoffs," he says. "We're taking Snapdragon up to CPU performance curve, but doing it without throwing away the discipline."
