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More than four years after its launch, the Nintendo Switch remains a unicorn in the video game console. But that hasn’t stopped many companies from dreaming about trying to capture some switch magic for themselves, and now it looks like Qualcomm may be trying to clone Nintendo’s hybrid device.
According to a new report Android Police, Qualcomm – a company known for making modems and mobile processors – is considering making its first retail device in years. It is reportedly a gadget that, for all intents and purposes, is carried by Qualcomm on the Nintendo Switch.
Based on the device’s non-final images, the Qualcomm portable console is said to have the same detachable controllers as Nintendo’s Joy-Cons, with a central module with a 6,000 mAh battery, Bluetooth, display, processor and other components. Wifi and more. And since this is the Qualcomm we are talking about, this rumored handset is also expected to come with 5G connectivity.
Like the Switch, Qualcomm’s rumored console is also expected to support video-out capabilities with additional board non-board storage via an SD card slot when docked with a TV or external monitor. Qualcomm’s home screen / launcher is supposed to be based on Android 12, and Qualcomm will apparently seek to support a range of third-party game stores from publishers such as Epic, Google and others. It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.
Qualcomm is eyeing a launch date in early 2022, with a target price of around ડ 300, in which Qualcomm sells directly to customers, but will likely open the device in partnership with carriers and other retailers to help increase device availability and presence.
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Now, if you go back and think about it loosely, that idea seems to be a bit appropriate. Qualcomm is already one of the largest manufacturers of mobile processors in the world, and modern Qualcomm chips, such as the Nvidia Tegra X1 chip currently used in the switch (which Nintendo chose to use to power the console, was already a short time in 2017). Snapdragon 888 Or Snapdragon 8 CX Gen 2 There will almost certainly be an advantage in both overall performance and power efficiency. And given Qualcomm’s expertise and extensive wireless IP holdings, the company could build a device with better wireless connectivity than Nintendo. After all, the switch is nothing more than a fancy smartphone with bolts on its sides.
And yet, I think Qualcomm’s plans to clone its own switch will be an exercise in frustration.
Qualcomm’s first major drawback is that it typically acts only as a B2B vendor, and with the exception of a handful of prototypes and reference devices, Qualcomm doesn’t really make retail devices for regular people. Qualcomm makes chips, modems and sensors that power many of the consumer devices we use every day, but the company doesn’t make those gadgets itself.
These transitions to Qualcomm’s second biggest challenge: Lack of brand recognition. Now there is no doubt that Qualcomm is a very influential company. It manufactures most of the mobile chips used in today’s Android phones and tablets. The problem is that people are not in the habit of seeing Qualcomm as a real brand. When people buy a Samsung phone, they are not just buying it because it has a Qualcomm processor. It’s just one of many components, and he’s buying the whole package. The logo that really matters is the one on the back of the device, be it a fruit or a name or something else, which is almost never Qualcomm’s. (And this doesn’t even factor into the fact that most people don’t have a choice as to which devices they prefer to buy chips for.)
The third major argument against Qualcomm’s switch clone is that Qualcomm does not create content. I have said it before and I will say it again, the switch is far from hardware perfection. Joy-C drives suffers from drift, the switch still doesn’t really support Bluetooth audio Dio, its screen isn’t particularly colorful or sharp, and its performance isn’t as impressive.
But what Nintendo has is a huge library of content, recognizable mascots and that simple “Nintendo magic” that makes everything seem fun and fantastic. When the Switch started, it debuted with what is arguably the best Zelda game ever. What could Qualcomm have in store that could compete with it? No company does more work with less performance than Nintendo, Nintendo manages to outsell the more powerful rival Xbox and PlayStation consoles from Micro .ft and Sony.
Granted, the Android Police report mentions that Qualcomm wants to support third-party game stores that can pick up games. Fornite, Genshin effect, And other popular titles are available on Qualcomm’s handheld. But it’s important to remember that anyone who plays those games already has a device to play with, which means that Qualcomm will have to deliver something else that no other device has, one of which is how hard Qualcomm grabs from the playbook Sounds like a real challenge. Ask yourself: What special feature can Qualcomm implement on its switch clone that allows you to choose from a real switch or a traditional console?
But things get even harder if you trust the latest reports Nintendo will be able to release an improved switch Probably with better performance and more premium performance before the end of the year. If Nintendo can deliver, it could make any handheld console Qualcomm even less attractive in early 2022.
But perhaps the biggest argument against Qualcomm’s rumored switch clone is all the other switch clones that have failed to get significant traction. At CES last year, Dell showed off a PC-based switch-like concept device The project is called UFO, But more than 14 months have passed, yet we have never been able to get an update about the project UFO. And this year, Lenovo teamed up with NEC to create this Lavi Mini, Which is another switch clone with removable controllers made from PC parts.
And then there are the few companies that make GPD neat little devices Like Win 3, Not to mention the millions of phones that can be converted into portable consoles through controller assist or touch controls. It’s been four years since the switch came out, and thinking that Qualcomm – a company that doesn’t make consumer devices – will be able to recreate the success of the switch when it seems like a Herculean task that countless others have tried and failed.
I’m not going to say that Qualcomm’s portable console plans are 100% disastrous, but the odds of victory seem to thin out the best from where I sit.
And yet, I’m incredibly eager to give them a try. Heck, maybe Qualcomm might stumble upon the winning formula, or somehow 5th growth How we use the handheld console will change radically. (In the short term it is unlikely, but hey, who knows). So let me ask you, is there a portable video game console made by Qualcomm that you want to watch?
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