Here’s why we haven’t seen more Snapdragon 780G phones
TL; DR
- A Xiaomi manager says there is insufficient capacity to make Snapdragon 780G phones.
- You may have to settle for the 778G instead.
- The problem occurs amid a broader chip shortage.
Have you noticed that few phones use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 780G chip, despite the company calling it the mainstream chip for 2021? Maybe there is a good explanation. A Xiaomi manager on Weibo claimed that insufficient capacity had resulted in a shortage of 780G devices and that the chips were reportedly out of production.
We asked Qualcomm for a comment.
The manager didn’t explain why the Snapdragon 780G was hard to find. However, it is also made using a 5 nanometer manufacturing process which is still cutting edge and therefore in great demand. Combine a global chip shortage with stiff competition for available 5nm supply (Apple’s A14 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 are two prominent examples), and the 780G can be hard to justify.
Continue reading: Snapdragon system-on-chip guidance
As you may have guessed, Qualcomm already seems to have a solution in hand. The recently announced Snapdragon 778G takes many of the same features as the 780G and uses a more conservative 6nm process. It’s not quite as powerful, but it’s close enough that phone providers like Xiaomi, Motorola, and Oppo can use it without feeling like they’ve taken a significant step backwards. You may not even notice the difference in real world applications.
The question, of course, is whether or not you will see a lot of Snapdragon 780G phones in the future. That is a difficult question to answer. If manufacturing issues are at the root, a solution might depend on whether the 5nm supply can be upgraded fast enough to warrant the development and shipping of 780G-based phones. Extensive manufacturing issues could make it easier to “deal with” the 778G, use a low-end chip, or even skip a device entirely.
