I had a chat with Qualcomm\u2019s Raj Talluri here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Of course I asked about the Nokia-Microsoft deal and the implications for Qualcomm. Currently Microsoft specify Qualcomm\u2019s Snapdragon as the required chipset for Windows Phone 7 devices: good for Qualcomm, not so good for Microsoft since it means competing system-on-a-chip vendors like TI and NVidia are putting all their efforts into Android or other mobile operating systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are extremely pleased and we are very optimistic that it will bring us additional business.\u201d said Talluri about the Nokia-Microsoft alliance. That said, might Nokia in fact choose a competing chipset for its Windows Phone devices?<\/p>\n
It might; but the issue here is the work involved in optimising the hardware and drivers for the OS:<\/p>\n
\nIf you look at Windows Phone, there\u2019s a lot of custom work we did with Microsoft that makes Windows Phone 7 really shine on Snapdragon … the amount of time we spent in getting those things optimized, it\u2019s been a multi-year effort for us.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
If you put this together with Nokia\u2019s announced intention to ship Windows Phone devices this year, it is hard to see how it could use a chipset other than Snapdragon.<\/p>\n
That said, those other vendors might not agree that it would take years. When I asked about this, NVidia gave me the impression that it could do the work in a few months, if there was a business case for it.<\/p>\n
Still, it is not a trivial matter, and adds potential for delay. I think we should expect Nokia\u2019s first Windows phones to run Qualcomm chipsets.<\/p>\n
If the Windows Phone ecosystem builds as Nokia hopes, other chipset vendors may get involved. Then again, what are Microsoft\u2019s plans for the Windows Phone OS long-term? Might the underlying Windows CE OS get scrapped in favour of something coming out of the Windows on Arm project? Silverlight and XNA apps should port across easily.<\/p>\n
That is a matter for speculation, but the possibility may deter other mobile chipset manufacturers from heavy investment in Windows Phone support. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I had a chat with Qualcomm\u2019s Raj Talluri here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Of course I asked about the Nokia-Microsoft deal and the implications for Qualcomm. Currently Microsoft specify Qualcomm\u2019s Snapdragon as the required chipset for Windows Phone 7 devices: good for Qualcomm, not so good for Microsoft since it means competing system-on-a-chip … Continue reading Qualcomm: optimising for Windows Phone took years not months<\/span>