Intel’s upcoming 10 nanometer chipsets have yet to enjoy a market release. Meanwhile, Samsung is introducing its latest 10nm chipset along with the Samsung Galaxy S8 flagship, and Qualcomm is already in the 10nm game with the Snapdragon 835 SoC (System-on-Chip) powering the same device in certain regions. However, despite the delays, Intel claims that once its upcoming 10nm Cannon Lake chips will hit the market, they will be a “full generation” ahead of rivaling chipsets. According to the chipmaker, this will be possible thanks to hyper scaling technology, which allows Intel to incorporate twice as many transistors in the same space as other 10nm chipsets.
According to an official press release, Intel’s upcoming 10 nm Cannon Lake chips will deliver up to 25% better performance than the previous 14nm Kaby Lake processors, all the while decreasing energy requirements by 45%. Furthermore, Intel claims that a new “enhanced version of the 10nm process” called 10++ will boost performance further by an additional 15%, and decrease power consumption by another 30%. Evidently, performance increases and power management improvements are expected from one generation of chipsets to another, but Intel claims that its 10nm Cannon Lake chips have the edge over rival 10nm chipsets like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 and Samsung’s Exynos 8895 System-on-Chip, both of which have been manufactured in Samsung’s facilities on a 10 nanometer FinFET process. However, Intel’s Cannon Lake silicon uses hyper scaling technology, which reportedly allows the company to fit twice as many transistors in the same space as other 10nm chipset manufacturers.
Last but not least, the press release states that Intel Custom Foundry puts two 10nm design platforms at their customers’ disposal, a 10GP (general purpose) and a 10HPM (high performance mobile) platform. Both include ARM Libraries, broad silicon-validated IP portfolios, POP Kits, and they benefit from fully integrated turnkey foundry support and services. But as promising as these claims seem to be, it’s important to note that Intel Cannon Lake chips are expected to be launched in the first half of 2018, leaving both Samsung and Qualcomm enough room to improve their already existing 10nm chipsets and technologies. In fact, Samsung and TSMC are both working on 7nm technology, which may become available in 2018, leaving Intel one step behind the competition. Only time will tell.
