Latest news with #Digital Chat Station
Phone Arena
19-07-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
Unusual twist means that a component other than the AP will determine phone prices next year
Qualcomm and MediaTek's newest application processors (APs) are expected to be rolling out of TSMC's fabs later this year. The world's top foundry will be using its 3rd-generation 3nm process node (N3P) to produce the flagship application processors (APs) designed by the aforementioned companies. Staying with the 3nm process to build chips like the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2 and the Dimensity 9500 should keep price hikes for these components in check. As a result, phone manufacturers might have the opportunity to keep price hikes from getting out of hand while still benefiting from healthy margins. A message posted on Chinese social media site Weibo by proficient leaker Digital Chat Station notes that while TSMC will charge clients like Qualcomm and MediaTek more to make their APs using its third-gen 3nm process node, this hike is expected to be a small bump. Smartphone buyers will benefit the most since manufacturers won't have to raise their prices too much to keep their profit margins steady. Tipster Digital Chat Station posts about higher RAM prices. | Image credit-Weibo While application processor prices are expected to be slightly higher, Digital Chat Station also says that prices for top LPDDR5X RAM memory chips have already increased 5% with more increases possible during the third and fourth quarters this year. These price hikes could impact new flagship models at the end of 2025. This is setting things up for an unusual twist in the 2026 smartphone market, as AP pricing might not be as important in determining smartphone price hikes as the pricing of RAM chips is The relative importance of RAM pricing compared to AP prices could continue into next year. That's when LPDDR6 RAM could be ready for use on smartphones with Samsung believed to be rushing development of the memory component. By speeding up LPDDR6 RAM development, Samsung is hoping that it can be ready in time for the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 for Galaxy AP, which will power the Galaxy S26 Ultra in 2026. The Galaxy S26 series will probably be released in late January, early February next year. The new RAM chips will be built by Samsung Foundry using its advanced 1c DRAM process. "1c" is actually the sixth-generation process, with "1x" being the first. Each generation process features performance and energy efficiency improvements.
Phone Arena
18-07-2025
- Phone Arena
Huawei's next tri-fold phone leaks – and things are looking serious
Recently, we've been hearing quite a lot about Samsung's first tri-folding phone. But if you've been following the tech industry closely, you'll know Samsung won't be the first to introduce a commercially available tri-folding phone. Huawei claimed that title with the Mate XT. And now, specs for its successor have leaked. Tipster Digital Chat Station has shared some of the specs for the next generation of the Huawei Mate XT on the Chinese social media website Weibo. Reportedly, those come from a TENAA regulatory listing for a phone with model number GRL-AL20. The listing confirms the phone was certified for 5G. Apparently, the next Mate XT may be a minor upgrade for the tri-fold phone. We don't know its name yet, but we'll assume, for simplicity, that it may be called Mate XT 2. Reportedly, the Mate XT 2 may feature the Kirin 9020 chip and satellite connectivity (probably exclusive to China, though). Image Credit - Digital Chat Station There would reportedly be an upgraded new 50MP large-pixel sensor with variable aperture and improvements to the periscope telephoto camera. Not much else is know about this phone at the moment, but Huawei is a serious competitor in the realm of tri-folding phones that Samsung will have to face. Actually, so far, it's the only competitor and it has a huge lead. The Mate XT Ultimate Edition came with a Kirin 9010 chip, 16 gigs of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and a 5,600mAh battery, supporting 66W wired and 50W wireless charging. Serious specs, if I may add. Meanwhile, it had a 50MP main camera, a 12MP periscope telephoto with 5.5x optical zoom, a 12MP ultrawide, and an 8MP selfie camera. Of course, the main attraction of the phone was the OLED displays: 10.2-inch fully unfolded, 7.9-inch when folded once, and 6.4-inch when fully folded. And that was one premium device, coming at €3,500. But yep, crazy innovative, it's worth noting, and such innovation does come at a cost, alright. The next-generation Mate XT is expected to be announced sometime in September. Rumor has it the rival from Samsung (which may or may not be called Galaxy Z TriFold...) is said to come in October. I personally think that while these foldable phones – especially the tri-fold ones – are super exciting from a tech perspective, they still feel a bit out of reach for most people. The innovation is incredible, no doubt, but the price tags are sky-high, and it's hard to know how durable these complex designs really are in day-to-day life. Still, it's fun to watch the competition heat up between Huawei and Samsung – and who knows, maybe in a few years, tri-fold phones will be the new normal… and hopefully a bit more affordable too.
