Samsung’s chip-making arm received a large order last year to manufacture the Snapdragon 888 processor using the 5 nm process. The South Korean company now appears to have won another order from Qualcomm, and it looks like Samsung will soon be ready with its most advanced manufacturing process.
Qualcomm announced two new 5G modems – Snapdragon X62 and Snapdragon X65 – yesterday, and they are developed using a 4 nm process. Although the company has not revealed who will make the new 5G chips, AnandTech I believe they are manufactured using Samsung’s 4nm (4LPE) process. It may be an improved version of the current 5 nm process (5LPE).
The Snapdragon X65 is the world’s first 5G modem that can achieve download speeds of up to 10 Gbps. Qualcomm has increased the number of frequency and bandwidth bands that can be used on a smartphone. In the frequency range below 6 GHz, the bandwidth was increased from 200 MHz to 300 MHz, a 50% improvement in aggregation. In the mmWave frequency range, the bandwidth has been increased from 800 MHz to 1000 MHz and supports the TDD 41 GHz n259 band.
The Snapdragon X62 is a scaled-down version of the Snapdragon X65 modem. Its spectrum bandwidth below 6 GHz is 120 MHz and the mmWave bandwidth is 300 MHz on four operators. This 5G modem is intended for use on more affordable smartphones. Both new 5G modems are being tested by brands and we can expect them to appear on smartphones later this year.
