Qualcomm releases Android chip built for AI as memory shortage weighs on smartphone market
The overall smartphone market is expected to contract 14% in terms of units shipped in 2026.
TL;DR
- Qualcomm unveiled new Android phone chipsets, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, focused on on-device AI.
- These chips are built on TSMC's 2-nanometer process and will be in premium smartphones from Motorola, Xiaomi, and ZTE.
- The launch occurs amidst a worldwide smartphone market contraction, with unit shipments expected to shrink.
- Qualcomm positions phones with these chips as an "AI hub" for local AI processing, similar to Apple's approach with iPhones.
- The chipsets feature CPU, GPU, and NPU for AI workloads, plus security features for agentic access to data.
- The Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chipset can run AI models with up to 30 billion parameters.