Will Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Play the "Big Cup, Small Cup Game? Performance Version May Reshape the Flagship Market

Will Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Play the "Big Cup, Small Cup Game? Performance Version May Reshape the Flagship MarketQualcomm has been making headlines this year. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has dominated the flagship market, and its new architecture has allowed it to enter the desktop market, partnering with various companies to create the new XElite laptop track

Will Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 Play the "Big Cup, Small Cup Game? Performance Version May Reshape the Flagship Market

Qualcomm has been making headlines this year. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has dominated the flagship market, and its new architecture has allowed it to enter the desktop market, partnering with various companies to create the new XElite laptop track. For Lei Technology users, the most anticipated news is the next generation Snapdragon flagship mobile platform. Rumored to be built on TSMC's 3nm process and featuring Qualcomm's new self-developed Oryon architecture, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is highly anticipated. Recently, a leaked presentation slide revealed that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 could come in two versions: SM8750 and SM8750P, with "P" standing for "Performance", indicating a performance version.

Historically, Qualcomm rarely created versions of its flagship chip, with the exception of the "Snapdragon For Galaxy" jointly customized with Samsung. However, this version only differed in clock frequency from the standard version and was released much later. This time around, with the dual benefits of the "3nm process" and "Oryon architecture," the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 adopts a "dual version" strategy. What secret lies behind this? Is Qualcomm starting to play the "big cup, small cup" game for its flagship chip?

Unveiling the Secret Behind the Big Cup, Small Cup

The leaked image shows that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 comes in two models: SM8750 and SM8750P, the former being the standard version and the latter the performance version. Earlier, GeekBench6 scores revealed that the SM8750 uses an eight-core architecture, but it remains unclear whether it employs a dual Oryon + public Arm architecture or an eight-core fully self-developed Oryon architecture.

Unlike Qualcomm's high-performance strategy for XElite, mobile platforms must balance overall power consumption. Therefore, an all-large-core solution may not appear in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Public information shows that compared to its predecessor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 sees a 35% and 30% increase in single-core and multi-core performance, respectively, aligning with expectations. Additionally, the GPU in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 has finally been upgraded from the Adreno 7 series to the Adreno 8 series, with an official claim of a significant leap in graphics performance.

Currently, there is no apparent performance distinction between the SM8750 and SM8750P, a stark contrast to the previous XElite series chip solutions. It is reasonable to speculate that this follows the strategy of the previous "Snapdragon For Galaxy" chip in collaboration with Samsung, only this time, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will be released earlier as a publicly available collaboration version.

It's worth noting that there have been reports suggesting Samsung's return to Exynos flagship chips for its Galaxy S25 series. If true, the exclusive agreement between Qualcomm and Samsung might lose its relevance.

The "Version Iteration History" of Qualcomm Flagship Chips

In fact, launching multiple versions of flagship chips has been a Qualcomm specialty. Back in the Snapdragon S2 era, Qualcomm divided the series into five versions: MSM7230 / 7630, APQ8055, MSM8255 / 8655. During the Snapdragon S4 era, it was directly divided into four sub-series: Play, Plus, Pro, and Prime, with each series containing multiple different chip versions.

It wasn't until 2013 that Qualcomm officially divided products with different positioning into their respective series, namely the entry-level Snapdragon 200, the mid-to-low-end Snapdragon 400, the mid-to-high-end Snapdragon 600, and the flagship Snapdragon 800. This naming system remains in use today, simplified in recent years to 2/4/6/7/8. The upcoming next-generation flagship chip, set to launch in late October, is the fourth-generation Snapdragon 8 chip.

Simplifying the naming makes it easier for consumers to understand the performance and user experience of different chips, and it helps manufacturers refine their product lines for stronger marketing impact.

However, some users believe that as Qualcomm's first flagship chip featuring the self-developed Oryon architecture, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 may have faced power consumption ratio issues during testing, leading to the development of standard and performance versions. But Lei believes that this notion is less credible, as the performance of the Snapdragon XElite is undeniable. Whether it's extreme performance release or power consumption control, it stands amongst the top tier Arm chips. It would be quite difficult for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 to "fail."

Intensifying Flagship Chip Competition: Qualcomm Snapdragon Needs to Consolidate Its Advantage

Qualcomm currently enjoys a dominant position in the mobile semiconductor field, primarily in the high-end and flagship market. Market research firm Counterpoint's data shows that Qualcomm captured 23% of the smartphone application processor market share in the third quarter of 2023.

However, MediaTek, with its advantage in entry-level and mid-range chips, has been steadily expanding its market share. Market reports show it reached a 40% market share in 2023, placing it first.

In this scenario, Qualcomm needs to continue to leverage its flagship advantage, creating flagship chips that better meet consumer needs. This year, Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8S Gen 3, two mobile platforms aimed at the high-end/flagship market. Both chips adopt the Cortex-X4 super-large core + A720 large core + A520 medium core architecture, offering incredible value. Despite their similar performance, the two chips have had very different fates: Information provided by Weibo account @WisdomChipInsider reveals that devices equipped with the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 have sold far better than those with the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3. This could be due to Qualcomm positioning the 8 series as flagship, which is a perception widely accepted by consumers.

The example of the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 and 7+ Gen 3 also demonstrates that the market has developed a deeper understanding of the flagship positioning of the Snapdragon 8 series, and consumers look forward to performance/gaming-focused devices offering higher-level performance. For example, since the release of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 with its overclocked "leading version," this version, as the public "Snapdragon For Galaxy" chip, has consistently been included in flagship devices emphasizing performance, such as Redmagic, Nubia, etc.

It is reasonable to predict that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, with its standard and performance versions, will not only serve Samsung Galaxy S series as in previous years but also empower more performance-oriented devices with its robust peak performance, enabling them to achieve stronger gaming performance. This could lead to increased market share for Qualcomm in the flagship market.

It's worth noting that the test version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4's super-large core has a clock frequency reaching 4.0GHz, a relatively high-power consumption extreme frequency. With flagship devices starting to opt for smaller screen designs in late 2024, this high frequency might pose a significant challenge to battery life. Therefore, rumors suggest that the standard and Pro versions of the Xiaomi 15 series will be the first to feature the standard version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, not the more powerful performance version.

The Future Outlook of Qualcomm's "Dual Version" Strategy

Overall, the mobile chip market has been a "three-kingdoms" battle between Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Apple. With the return of Huawei Kirin, the market wind has become unpredictable: Product-wise, MediaTek dominates the majority of the entry-level market, while Qualcomm and Apple are neck and neck in the flagship market. However, the A17 Pro, Apple's first 3nm chip, encountered a "failure," prompting many Apple fans to switch to Android. Huawei Kirin chips currently have a relatively low output, but with the Mate60 series and Pura70 series, they have started to gain momentum and will undoubtedly challenge the flagship market in the future.

Therefore, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 can be considered Qualcomm's most crucial product in the first phase. Maintaining its leading position in this fierce competition is paramount.

Looking back at this generation of Snapdragon 8 flagship chips, it has enjoyed outstanding market reputation due to its exceptional power control and performance release. It has also benefited from Apple's "failure" with the A17 Pro, pushing Apple fans to switch. However, MediaTek Dimensity 9300 is not to be underestimated. Its all-large-core design has won over a loyal fan base.

In the second half of the flagship chip battle, Apple has released its Apple M4 this year, utilizing an improved 3nm process to preempt a repeat of the A18's issues. MediaTek continues with its public architecture + all-large-core approach, pushing performance to the limit. Qualcomm's countermove is the most curious among the trio, as no one knows the combined performance