Huawei planning to reveal 8-core chipset

The Consumer Electronics Show has finally come to an end and the list of new gadgets and technologies could not have been much longer. Companies took their time showcasing new products like the 6.1-inch phablet from Huawei, or the 20-inch tablet from Panasonic and plenty of rumors about the next iPhone from Apple. Another technology that came to light was a new 8-core processor from Samsung, called the Exynos 5 Octa based on ARM’s Cortex A15 CPU. Not even a couple of days have gone by since that processor was announced; another company came forward saying they are planning their own 8-core processor.
That company is Huawei and according to a respected online source, the company’s head of consumer business group confirmed an 8-core chipset that will launch in smartphones and tablets later this year. Any information above and beyond that has not been discussed with the public at this point. Huawei’s first chipset based on ARM technology is called the K3V2, so many are expecting the 8-core to possibly be called the K3V3 processor. With previous reviews based on the K3V2 processor not being very favorable, it is unclear how the new 8-core processor will stack up against others.
According to the report, Huawei is not planning to make the chipsets; rather the company will be outsourcing that part of the process. TSMC is likely to be making the chipset for the company and is also the same company that is replacing Samsung regarding the future of processors that go into next generation Apple products. Besides competing against the processor from Samsung, Huawei will also be going up against the new Tegra 4 from Nvidia and the new Snapdragon 800 from Qualcomm, both of which were showcased at the CES last week.
Analysts believe that in order for Huawei to be able to compete, the new chipset would need to have built in LTE technology. Chipsets that take up less space, even though they are more powerful, will be the deciding factor in the end product. By combining Wi-Fi, LTE and Bluetooth systems into one chipset, the hardware manufacturers will be able to get more into the smartphone will using less power at the same time. In the meantime, consumers will be keeping a close eye on trials and benchmark tests to see how these new processors will perform.