Is Nexus 7 changing Chips to the Snapdragon S4 Pro

[Arachno 1D]

The next-generation Nexus 7 tablet could see Nvidia's Tegra 4 System-on-a-Chip (SoC) ousted in favor of Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro silicon.

According to Pacific Crest analyst Michael McConnell, Google is choosing to go with the Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 chip over the Tegra 4 hardware, not only because Qualcomm is willing to offer a better deal but also due to the S4 Pro's tighter integration with 3G and 4G modem technology.

This simplifies the supply chain, which means ultimately means lower costs.

The S4 Pro is a good choice for the Nexus 4 because it offers integrated cellular technology; something that even the upcoming Tegra 4 SoC?which Nvidia claims is the world's fasted mobile processor?will not.

The Tegra 4, previously codenamed "Wayne", was unveiled at CES 2013 and features at its heart 72 custom Nvidia GeForce GPU cores, giving it six-times the graphics processing power of the current Tegra 3. The Tegra 4 also comes with worldwide support for 4G LTE voice and data by utilizing the optional fifth-generation Nvidia Icera i500 chipset.

The loss of a place in the Nexus 7 represents a big hit for Nvidia. At an average price of $20 to $25 per Tegra processor McConnell estimates that it will mean an "adverse revenue impact of $200 million to $250 million."

McConnell claims that the new Nexus 7 is scheduled to begin shipment in the second quarter of 2013.

But it's not all bad news for Nvidia.

McConnell sees good news for the company on the workstation front, with a rise in high profit margin?around 46 percent?of professional Quadro GPU sales. McConnell has increased his Quadro workstation sales estimate to $897 million, representing an 8 percent year-over-year growth, compared to his previous estimate of $857 million, or a 3 percent year-on-year growth.

http://www.zdnet.com...001/?s_cid=e589

[Richteralan]

Good for ASUS.

AFAIK, only one les-well-known company ordered T4, that is Fujitsu.

[remixedcat]

ummm why would anyone ditch nvidia?

[Nashy]

I think people put a bit too much emphasis on mobile CPU and graphics.

[remixedcat]

we do becuase we want better performance.

[Richteralan]

ummm why would anyone ditch nvidia?

First of all, Tegra's performance isn't that great.

A lot of vendors used it before simply because NVIDIA announced theirs earlier than competitors.

Second of all, Some games that's locked to Tegra only is hurting the ecosystem and make fragmentation even worse. Ironically, most of those Tegra only games run fine on other GPUs.

And lastly, this.

[Arceles]

we do becuase we want better performance.

As I told you dear lady, Nvidia isn't always the best of the best.

[Growled Member]

This simplifies the supply chain, which means ultimately means lower costs.

That's always a good thing, especially when there is not a drop in quality.

[DocM]

Perhaps we'll now see prices drop on the whole Nexus series? A cheaper Nexus 7 would fly out the doors (as if it already isn't.)

[Richteralan]

Perhaps we'll now see prices drop on the whole Nexus series? A cheaper Nexus 7 would fly out the doors (as if it already isn't.)

um..the base model is already only $199.

How cheap you want it to be? $99?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

um..the base model is already only $199.

How cheap you want it to be? $99?

well if it was able to be that cheap it really would fly off the shelves :p

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

If this change results in a price drop, then I might have to buy one myself instead of hogging my sister's 16 GB Nexus 7. :p

[Arachno 1D]

They did previously state about changing the screen and some other hardware to make it cheaper so it may be a drive to get it near the $50 mark which is well under competition costs to the user.

[Richteralan]

well if it was able to be that cheap it really would fly off the shelves :p

The Nexus 7 is already flying off the shelves.

Given the name-brand ASUS and Google, I seriously doubt Nexus 7 will be at $99 price point, aka some cheap Chinese clone pads which uses MediaTek SoC.

$149? Maybe possible and the best guess.

$50? SERIOUSLY? Can you even buy a 7 inch tablet, including Chinese clones with $50?

Some of you are seriously smoking some good stuff.

[Arachno 1D]

Given the profit is from selling the apps not the hardware its all likely-hood they will reduce the price to a level that is below the competition hence the changes in the hardware to make it cheaper to produce per unit.

[Growled Member]

um..the base model is already only $199.

How cheap you want it to be? $99?

Please. :)

[Richteralan]

Please. :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/A13-4GB-7-Google-Android-4-0-Tablet-PC-Multi-Touch-Screen-Wifi-Camera-Black-MID-/121035098437?pt=US_Tablets&hash=item1c2e410945