Qualcomm at CES 2018: Press Conference Live Blog

10:50AM EST - Done

05:59PM EST - It's Vegas, and Qualcomm are having a press conference. I'm seated front row and center.

06:00PM EST - Qualcomm recently had its annual Snapdragon Tech Conference, where 5G, Windows on Snapdragon 835, and the Snapdragon 845 were the main talking points

06:00PM EST - This is CES, so we might get some more information on this

06:01PM EST - Interestingly I can already see Hugo Barra sitting in the front row of the press event. He works for Facebook as VP of Oculus VR, so there's got to be some tie in

06:02PM EST - The live stream link is here for those that want to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSmGAK0JTn8&feature=youtu.be

06:02PM EST - The presentation is set to start

06:02PM EST - Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm to the stage

06:03PM EST - New Qualcomm logo

06:03PM EST - Back end of 2017 announced Snapdragon 845 and always connected PC

06:03PM EST - CES is about talking about what we are doing that is new

06:03PM EST - Cue legal slide

06:04PM EST - Investing in two areas

06:04PM EST - 1: mobile

06:04PM EST - specifically, 5G

06:04PM EST - to create a new opportunity for Qualcomm. New use cases

06:05PM EST - Spending over 2 years to diversify the company, investing in new business

06:05PM EST - What industries can be disrupted

06:05PM EST - What can be disrupted by large scale mobile technology

06:05PM EST - reshaping the industry

06:05PM EST - Today is about showing the progress and some announcements

06:05PM EST - If you want to go into a new industry, is customer confidence and speed

06:06PM EST - In the mobile space, we are faster at moving to new technology quicker than others

06:06PM EST - either organically or M&A

06:07PM EST - $32B is core mobile - snapdragon, modem, tranceiver

06:07PM EST - $20B on RF Front end

06:07PM EST - $19B data center

06:07PM EST - (based on esitimates in 2018, opportunity listed as SAM in 2020)

06:07PM EST - $77b in Audio/Iot/Networking/Mobile Compute

06:08PM EST - Non-core mobile was $3b in revenue in FY2017

06:08PM EST - 5G for 2019

06:08PM EST - 5G in a smartphone as early as 2019

06:09PM EST - Mobile markets want speed, low latency, and unlimited data plans

06:09PM EST - End of 2017, 3GPP finalized 5G and Qualcomm introduced a 5G-NR reference design

06:10PM EST - 5G networks in late 2018/2019

06:10PM EST - New experiences that 5G will bring to devices

06:10PM EST - 'We have a guest with a social presence to talk about'

06:10PM EST - 1ms latency means presence in MR/VR

06:11PM EST - Changing the economics of IT networks

06:12PM EST - When we get to 5G, over 10x combination of RF bands over 4G

06:12PM EST - Qualcomm has a differentiated solution in the RF front end

06:13PM EST - Announcing RF-Front End design wins

06:13PM EST - Modem-to-antenna platform

06:13PM EST - ALso samsung

06:13PM EST - Strong opportunity to create growth

06:13PM EST - All the way as Qualcomm moves into 5G

06:14PM EST - From baseband to antenna

06:14PM EST - A preview of the first tunable multi-mode tunable 4G/5G front end

06:15PM EST - Have to have the ability to rely on signal from network and baseband to configure the front end

06:15PM EST - A smart front end with a controller that tunes between 4G and 5G

06:15PM EST - aims to be disruptive

06:15PM EST - Changing the mobile industry to 5G

06:15PM EST - Now Always Connected PCs

06:16PM EST - OEMs are embracing the always connected PC

06:16PM EST - 'we are changing the landscape of PCs'

06:16PM EST - Don't worry have to worry about boot time or carrying a charger

06:17PM EST - Lenovo announcement on this tomorrow

06:17PM EST - Now about networking

06:17PM EST - redefining networking in the hojme

06:17PM EST - Qualcomm has 40% of the US revenue for mesh networks

06:18PM EST - Many services are consumed by mobile devices

06:18PM EST - Reshaping the carrier segment of home networking

06:18PM EST - Mobile devices are using a lot of data

06:19PM EST - Qualcomm is integrated into Plume with carriers

06:20PM EST - Qualcomm Mesh Networking: turning devices into mesh networks

06:20PM EST - Integrated voice capabilities in the mesh

06:20PM EST - with Amazon Alexa / Microsoft Cortana

06:20PM EST - Also allows for IoT data collection for machine learning in the home

06:20PM EST - A platform for innovation

06:21PM EST - Automotive: 25 new design wins, $3B+

06:21PM EST - Infomatics and Telematics

06:21PM EST - Infotainment

06:21PM EST - In-car connectivity

06:22PM EST - 15 years ago, finite number of use cases

06:22PM EST - 'There should be no car that is not a connected car'

06:23PM EST - Managing this data and services is a key part of the car

06:24PM EST - The power of snapdragon allows high-end infotainment to get into mid-range vehicles

06:24PM EST - 3 major announcements

06:24PM EST - Announcement infotainment and telematics solutions with Snapdragon

06:25PM EST - Snapdragon SoC has a modem

06:25PM EST - Integrated 4G

06:25PM EST - Multiple silicon opportunities

06:25PM EST - Next-gen telematics

06:25PM EST - Announcing 2018 Honda Accord partnership

06:25PM EST - Also BYD in electric cars

06:26PM EST - using Snapdragon 820A

06:26PM EST - Now IoT

06:26PM EST - FY17 gave $1b revenue for qualcomm

06:26PM EST - Strong momentum

06:26PM EST - Plenty of design wins that redefine categories

06:27PM EST - Evolution of Voice UI

06:28PM EST - Qualcomm Audio Voice UI and Qualcomm Smart Audio Platform: Announcing 3 smart audio partnerships with Amazon (Alexa), Google, Microsoft (Cortana). Already with Baidu and Alibaba

06:29PM EST - New Qualcomm Low Power Bluetooth Audio SoCs

06:29PM EST - QCC5100

06:29PM EST - for wireless earbuts and hearables

06:29PM EST - 65% reduction in power

06:30PM EST - Active Noise Cancellation, Digital assistant ready

06:30PM EST - Allows all the modern high quality audio brands to offer something new

06:30PM EST - Allows handset companies to offer something with their smartphones

06:31PM EST - Now immersive use cases

06:31PM EST - Snapdragon Mobile Platform

06:31PM EST - 20 XR devices lauched, 20+ in development

06:31PM EST - Hugo Barra to the stage

06:32PM EST - Last year, announced Oculus Go

06:32PM EST - Sweet spot between mobile VR and PC VR

06:32PM EST - New Category that will bring a lot more people into VR

06:32PM EST - Standalone VR will push limits in the industry

06:32PM EST - 'We expect the Oculus Go to be the most successful VR headset in the market)

06:33PM EST - Built with Qualcomm Snapdragon 821

06:33PM EST - Also been working with Xiaomi is the hardware partner for global launch

06:33PM EST - >Hugo Barra used to work for Xiaomi

06:34PM EST - Oculus and Xiaomi are jointly announcing a new VR product for China market

06:34PM EST - Xiaomi's mission is to bring innovation to everyone

06:35PM EST - Launching Mi VR Standalone today

06:35PM EST - Built for China

06:35PM EST - Shares the core hardware with Oculus Go, based on Xiaomi VR platform

06:35PM EST - Supports Oculus mobile SDK

06:35PM EST - Bring VR content to chinese users

06:35PM EST - More details soon

06:36PM EST - Qualcommis working hard to set the pace in the industry in mobile

06:36PM EST - Lead the industry into the next phase

06:37PM EST - Continue to be extending mobile technology

06:37PM EST - Moving mobile technology into new industries to give growth and opportunity

06:38PM EST - Qualcomm event in China later this month - 'a very interesting changing dynamic with exciting announcements'

06:38PM EST - Now time for Q&A

06:41PM EST - Q: 5G rollout compared to 4G rollout? Where will Qualcomm be in 5G

06:44PM EST - A: Industry is getting clarity. 5G is about mmWave and others. Operators around the globe all making plans to deployment from late 2018 to 2H 2019. There are operators with sub-6 GHz, we also see operators rely on mmWave. With real operator data, mmWave coverage in Chicago up to 70% more than expected. With fast switching attributes, operators can switch between 5G and 4G quickly. Excitement about the ramp is not only demand for unlimited data and carriers aiming for lower cost, but phones are getting expensive with more flash. With 5G, devices do not need that much memory as you can rely on cloud connectivity. Will be a very successful - faster to download than to load from flash.

06:45PM EST - Q: Spectre and Meltdown?

06:46PM EST - A: Couple of things that are unique about mobile on this. In mobile behaviour, most users download software from an app store. So in order to exploit this, you need to side load software instead which is not common. Patches on Android have been distributed since November. ARM and Google are working hard on this. But there is not the same level of concern. The mobile ecosystem has the benefit of negligible impact on performance due to the patches.

06:47PM EST - Q: Snapdragon 845 SPU technology - connectivity and security?

06:49PM EST - A: We want a comprehensive level of security. We have multiple interactions in the platform - biometrics for example, and security in a vault. Also a secure execution environment. The SPU makes security a platform, so the ecosystem can build on a security platform. Expect it on the future Snapdragon platforms