Qualcomm launched its latest high-end processor - the Snapdragon 820 - over a month ago, to replace the 810 which was mired by "rumors" of overheating during normal smartphone usage. The 64-bit chip features improvements across the board, and represents Qualcomm"s commitment to "immersive technologies" in the wake of virtual and augmented reality devices. Now, a new rumor has emerged claiming the processor will be exclusive to Samsung until April.
The rumor surfaced from Chinese forum Weibo, and claims that only the Korean company will be able to use the high-end SoC for the first three months of next year. Keeping in mind that no other smartphone manufacturer will be able to utilize the chipset in their handsets, this will provide a competitive edge to Samsung"s next flagship device, the Galaxy S7, which is expected to be unveiled in February.
Qualcomm"s Snapdragon 820 processor brings along a number of improvements and new features across the board. It sports a new "Smart Protect" technology to defend devices against malware, and also boasts of Quick Charge 3.0, which will allow for up to 27% faster charging over the previous generation Snapdragon chips with Quick Charge 2.0, and will allow for new connector designs such as USB Type-C. The processor"s new architecture incorporates a custom Kryo CPU and Hexagon 680 DSP, which will allow double the power and battery life for a smartphone as compared to the Snapdragon 810.
If the rumor is true, it would offer the Samsung Galaxy S7 a significant advantage over the competition, at least for a few weeks. However, given the lack of evidence to support the rumor at this point of time, we can only advise you to take this claim with a rather large pinch of salt.