Spreadtrum offers Android platforms for $100 smartphones

LONDON – Spreadtrum Communications Inc. has announced that it has Android platforms that should enable customers to make $100 retail TD-SCDMA and EDGE/Wi-Fi smartphones with 1-GHz clock performance. The TD-SCDMA platform is based on the SC8810 chip and the EDGE/Wi-Fi platform is based on the SC6820 chip, Spreadtrum (Shanghai, China) said.

These chips are both a step up from the 600-MHz clocked SC8805G for TD-SCDMA and the SC6810 for EDGE/WiFi intended for $40 handsets.

The SC8810 and SC6820 are both based on the Cortex-A5 processor core licensed from ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) and implemented in 40-nm CMOS. The chips include a Mali GPU with 3D/2D graphics acceleration and supports high definition video playback, a 5 megapixel camera, a WVGA touch panel and connectivity features including Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS. Both products combine silicon hardware with turnkey Android software.

The SC8805G and the SC6810 incorporate an ARM-9 processor, integrate power management and support Android 2.2, 2-D graphics, camera support up to 5-megapixels, MPEG4 decoder and encoder, an HVGA touch screen LCD display, as well as connectivity and broadcast functions including Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, FM and mobile TV.

The key differences are: Cortex A5 versus ARM-9, dedicated GPU graphics acceleration in the 1-GHz models, WVGA versus HVGA touchscreen and Android 2.3, 3 and 4 support versus Android 2.2.

"Our 1GHz Android platform sets a new bar for low-cost smartphone performance," said Leo Li, Spreadtrum's CEO, in a statement. "The graphics and web browsing performance of the SC8810 and SC6820 compares favorably to one of the most popular smartphone models globally, delivering a high performance applications and gaming experience for consumers. This type of experience has previously been available only in mid- to high-end handset models and can now be delivered by OEMs in $100 smartphone models. This will reshape the definition of and consumer expectations for a low-cost handset."

Industry analysts expect the smartphone market in China to exceed 100 million units in 2012, leading global demand for smartphone products.

Spreadtrum is one of more than 80 fabless companies included in the China Fabless Profile and Database report prepared by EE Times Confidential. The report can be ordered from https://subscriptions.eetimes.com/chinafabless


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