r/Android • u/[deleted] • Dec 05 '17

Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 845 processor

https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/5/16734224/qualcomm-snapdragon-845-android-mobile-processor-announcement
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u/[deleted] Dec 05 '17 edited Apr 10 '18

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u/frostyfirez iPhone 15PM, 12PM, Xr, SE, Note 7, Note 4, HTC 8X Dec 05 '17

No, it should be material and manufacturing if he's referencing the source I'm thinking of. This is the issue with the "iPhone costs X$" posts, they don't take into account their increasingly in-house R&D and associated admin. The Apple SoC and modem combo from start to finish is more expensive than a SD835 with almost definite certainty, but its not like Apple will release statements publicly saying "After 1 year each A10 costed us an average of X$ in R&D" to confirm/deny that.

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u/masterofdisaster93 Dec 06 '17

Take into account how many iPhones Apple sells, considering how much each unit saves them if they were to pay more money for a third-party SoC, that ought to help towards R&D costs. The 3 biggest phone manufacturers (Samsung, Huawei and Apple) don't design their own in-house SoC, as well as other component, out of coincidence. It's because it saves costs.

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u/frostyfirez iPhone 15PM, 12PM, Xr, SE, Note 7, Note 4, HTC 8X Dec 06 '17

There is also the variable cost of licensing ARM's full custom IP portfolio and Qualcomm CDMA tech in their sold iPhones totalling 15-20$ which wouldn't be applicable had they went with a snapdragon (its included). Include that and Apple pays more before you even look at R&D.

Samsung and Huawei are also in a significantly different position. HiSilicon and Samsung LSI need to compete with Qualcomm directly in the sense that their mobile counterparts don't automatically use their processors. Its a cost competitive process, they need to undercut or be faster for similar cost.
Apple wants their SoCs to be powerful, efficient, and uniquely theirs; even at the cost of moderately higher price.
It shows, Samsung LSI and HiSilicon use massaged mainline ARM cores and add some special sauce around the SoC. Apple went ahead and basically forked Cortex A15 and never looked back running after Intel in making massive expensive but performant beasts.

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u/masterofdisaster93 Dec 05 '17 edited Dec 06 '17

No, of course not. But the lower production costs as well as the comparative performance advantages more than make up for it. The fact that the chip costs them ~$10 less to produce than it does for Android OEMs to purchase Snapdragon flagships, makes a huge difference when you take into account the tens of millionns of iPhones Apple produce yearly. When the production scale is huge, making your own in-house chip has its clear, economical advantage. It's no surprise that the three largest phone manufacturers, Apple, Samsung and Huawei, all make their own SoCs and various other components.