Qualcomm attached a likely launch date to the successor of the Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip for wearables, having started sending media invites for a September 10 event on Tuesday. The company’s next silicon is expected to be called the Snapdragon Wear 3100 and be built for smartwatches from the ground up, though the module is still said to be manufactured on the old 14nm process node, making it unclear how Qualcomm is intending to deliver major energy efficiency advancements that would allow for better always-on displays and similar functionalities, which is something the company’s senior wearable executive Pankaj Kedia hinted at in early May.
An official announcement in the first half of September would be in line with the company’s previously disclosed intentions to commercialize its next wearable system-on-chip by early fall, with Fossil, Huawei, and LG likely being among its first customers. Google is also understood to be looking into entering the wearable segment with a series of Pixel-branded smartwatches this fall; the devices in question are likely to be powered by the Snapdragon Wear 3100 as well and should be unveiled alongside the Pixel 3 Android flagships, second-generation Pixel Buds, and the Pixelbook 2 at the company’s annual hardware event which is rumored to be happening on October 4 for the third year in a row.
Following the announcement of the Snapdragon Wear 3100, Qualcomm should also launch the Snapdragon 855 chip for smartphones and tablets by the end of the year. The company’s next flagship silicon is rumored to be manufactured on TSMC’s 7nm process node, whereas the firm is likely to adopt Samsung’s 7nm EUV process once that technology is ready for flow production next year. While Qualcomm hasn’t updated its wearable offerings for nearly two and a half years now, the semiconductor giant now has a higher incentive to invest in its non-core markets following the failure of the NXP acquisition that left it without a swift diversification path.