Qualcomm claims most smartphone users don’t need quadcore processors

Processing giant deems dualcore more than capable of satisfying consumer needs

Quad-core processors have creeped their way into several well-known devices, including the Nexus 7 and Microsoft Surface tablet, but chip designer Qualcomm claims the use of such CPUs is unnecessary, as dual-core chips can sufficiently power most mobile devices.

The firm, whose quadcore Snapdragon S4 processor powers the LG Optimus G, was a little late in joining the quadcore clan. Its competitors, Nvidia and Samsung pumped out their four core-toting chips a while back, during which Qualcomm was rolling out the dualcore Snapdragon S4.

But according to Sy Choudry, director of product management at Qualcomm, their late arrival into the market was a deliberate 'business decision'.

He told The Inquirer: "[We] could have launched a quad-core version of the Snapdragon S4 before the dual-core version, clearly we made a business decision to launch the dual-core version (MSM8960) before the quad-core version.

"That's really based on the workloads of 95 percent of users, even [for] a lot of the power users, the dual-core is good enough, not even good enough but more than good enough."

"If we profile most folks use-cases today on smartphones or even a tablet you are utilising up to two cores.”

He also deemed that under the current capabilities of mobile phones, the difference between dual and quad-core processors is indecipherable:

"For the pro-sumers that [time] will come over the next few years, today that's not really the case for a large portion of users."

Considering the iPhone 5 runs a custom-built dual-core processor, Apple has proven that with correct programming, two processors are more than enough to deal with even the most demanding user.

Via The Inquirer