Nvidia Promises Tegra 3 Smartphones Before End of March
Nvidia has said that we can expect to see smartphones packing its Tegra 3 processor this quarter.
We've been hearing an awful lot about quad-core smartphones over the last few months, particularly at CES, where several companies discussed plans to launch quad-core phones later this year. However, we still haven't seen any in stores yet. Fear not, though, as they are coming very, very soon. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsung Huang said today that we can expect to see them before the end of March.
"This quarter we are expecting to ship Tegra 3 based superphones. At Mobile World Congress is when we expect to announce these devices, and we expect to announce and ship them this quarter," he said during the company's earnings call this week.
Tegra 3, codenamed Kal-El, was officially released on November 9, 2011, but there are only a handful of devices using the chip at the moment (the Transformer Prime, the Iconia Tab A700, and the IdeaPad K2 from Lenovo). Nvidia this week posted earnings for the fourth quarter and reported a faster-than-expected decline in Tegra 2 sales. This in turn caused the manufacturer's consumer business to nose-dive by 42.5-percent sequentially.
Despite this drop in Tegra 2 sales, Nvidia noted that Tegra shipped in 14 phones and 34 tablets. Additionally, VP Rob Csongor said Tegra 3 is well-positioned and should deliver "renewed growth." Total Tegra sales in 2011 were about $360 million. For 2012, the company expects "at least" $540 million, the majority of which will be generated via Tegra 3.
Mobile World Congress is set to take place at the end of this month, so stay tuned for news on Tegra 3 smartphones and tablets.
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
-
whitey_rolls1984 Makes complete sense to me why the sales of Tegra chips are down. You release the Tegra 3 in November and it's a fairly substantial improvement over Tegra 2. Anyone who follows tech at all will be holding out for a Tegra 3 chip in the device they want (smartphone/tablet), buying Tegra 2 at this point is just buying obsolete techReply -
Vorador2 loneninjaCurrently have Tegra 2 in my Android phone, looking forward to Tegra 3 devices.Reply
Same here. -
very nice and i hope many will have quad core but pls somebody tell me what will we see better with quad core in a mobile phone? i know about power saving ..... but anything else?i love phones and technology, my last 3 phones : iphone4, galaxy s2 and now i love my soon to be old tech galaxy nexus :-) . and it helps the graphics but something else???Reply
-
groveborn Maybe it's time for the industry to get together for some new standards so users can upgrade their hardware like a desktop. Wouldn't that be nice?Reply -
kronos_cornelius grovebornMaybe it's time for the industry to get together for some new standards so users can upgrade their hardware like a desktop. Wouldn't that be nice?Reply
I feel your nostalgia, but we were lucky to have that phenomenon once. The miniaturization of tech will make a second time impossible.