Marvell is joining the “quad-core game” with a mass-market product that will compete in the mid-to-high end of the market. Its new PXA1088 LTE is touted as the industry’s first mass market quad-core 5-mode Category 4 LTE single-chip solution supporting LTE TDD and FDD, WCDMA (HSPA+), TD-SCDMA and EDGE connectivity options.
In addition, the platform incorporates a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 processor with high performance graphics and Avastar wireless connectivity, including Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 + FM single-chip SoC, and the L2000 GNSS Hybrid Location Processor, as well as an integrated power management and audio codec IC.
Yup, it’s heading to the emerging markets of the world where it will compete with MediaTek and other Tier-2 chip makers. For the high-end superphones, we’ll still see handset makers relying on solutions made by Qualcomm and NVIDIA, with major companies like Apple, Samsung, Huawei and soon LG using their own gear.
We’ll let you know when we spot a first phone using Marvell’s new chip. Stay tuned in the meantime, k?