I just want to clarify that this is my speculation and my speculation alone. As of now there’s no substantial evidence or proof to rest my speculation.
What’s the speculation exactly?
I speculate that the Phone(1) will be powered by Custom Made Qualcomm SoC, it may sound funny and baseless at first but there’s a solid reason for Qualcomm and Nothing to do it.
So, speculation out of the blue, huh? -No, hear me out.
Lets start with Qualcomm’s intention first. Its very simple, they wanna compete with Samsung SLSI(System Large-Scale Integration). Though Samsung SLSI is not a big threat for Qualcomm by any means, still Qualcomm is no alien to the fact that Samsung SLSI offers Custom SoC Development Program to OEMs and the first fruit of the program is Google’s Tensor SoC (if you dint know, surprise-surprise). They are collaborating with Nothing for the first Custom Qualcomm SoC and will eventually roll out the program to other OEMs in the coming times with an important objective to win Google’s Tensor Designing Contract which wont be any surprises at all as last year Qualcomm’s Stock Price dipped following Google’s Tensor Announcement.
Moving on, the interesting stuff is How Nothing will be benefitted from a Custom Qualcomm SoC? -Well, there are numerous number of benefits. First is tight integration of Hardware and Software and Nothing can command a control over the Hardware Stack. But that’s not all, the intriguing part is seamless 3rd party device connectivity. Remember how Nothing wants to offer a ecosystem of Devices seamlessly connected with each other. I see there’s no possible way of seamlessly inter-connecting their devices and connecting a Tesla Car or an Airpods without a Custom Connectivity Hardware(Chip) implementation. I am pretty sure such a chip is in development/or is already developed with the help of Qualcomm.
Moreover, there has been too much of Publication(Press Release, Official Tweets) too early(since the arrival of Nothing as a Brand) regarding this Qualcomm-Nothing Partnership which can not be just for a mere off-the-shelf generic SoC (That would be Sus, truthfully).
On top of that @Carl has admitted that how Qualcomm has been supporting the idea of Nothing’s Seamless Ecosystem from the very beginning and how both companies’ aspirations regarding a seamless ecosystem aligns perfectly.
Possible foundations for the Custom SoC:
- TSMC_7nm Process: Snapdragon 870 +Higher Prime and Mid Core Clock Speed + Custom Connectivity Chip
- TSMC_4nm Process: Snapdragon 8 Gen1 Plus + Custom Connectivity Chip
At the end, it all may turn out wrong but truthfully the possibility is definitely there. If it this story doesn’t turn out to be real (Sad Pikachu Face) then Yo screw my analysis. 😅
Let me know what do you think and I have written this post while being half-asleep(for the records 🤣 )