Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930)’s Galaxy Note 4 and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s 5.5-inch phablet iPhone 6 Plus were launched around the same time. The Galaxy Note 4 has impressive features, but it continues to lag behind the iPhone 6 Plus. Apple’s device outperformed the Note 4 even in Samsung’s home market South Korea.
Samsung testing Note 4 with Snapdragon 810
A recent survey conducted by Kantar WorldPanel revealed that the iPhone 6 Plus was outselling every other phablet in the U.S. market. It accounted for 41% of all the U.S. phablet sales in October quarter. Now Samsung is preparing to counterattack with a more powerful Galaxy Note 4. Sources familiar with the matter told SamMobile that the Korean electronics giant was testing an upgraded version of the Galaxy Note 4 with telecom carriers in South Korea.
Samsung is reportedly testing the Note 4 with Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 810 processor. The current Galaxy Note 4 comes in two versions: one with Snapdragon 805 and another with octa-core Exynos 5433 chipset. The biggest difference between Snapdragon 805 and 810 is that the new one has a 64-bit octa-core architecture, which could significantly improve the performance of a smartphone.
Will a powerful Galaxy Note 4 affect the popularity of the iPhone 6 Plus?
However, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 isn’t ready for mass production yet. The processor is expected to enter mass production sometime in early 2015 as Qualcomm has clarified that Snapdragon development was “on track.” If the new chipset is available, Samsung will take advantage and build a new variant of the Galaxy Note 4. Snapdragon 810 will be a huge step forward for Android vendors.
Apple unveiled 64-bit processor support with the iPhone 5S last year. Now Android vendors are desperate to get the 64-bit architecture in their smartphones. It will allow companies to make smartphones with 4GB RAM and above. Snapdragon will also widen bandwidth for the CPU and GPU, which means better processing. However, even a more powerful Galaxy Note 4 may not have any noticeable effect on the popularity of the iPhone 6 Plus, especially in the U.S. market.
