Earlier this month, Google revealed that its upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro would be powered by a custom-built chipset called Tensor. The announcement marked the search giant"s departure from its longstanding reliance on Qualcomm"s Snapdragon processors that powered its earlier Pixel phones.
Now, a fresh report from Reuters suggests that Google has swapped Qualcomm for Samsung in terms of the 5G modem to be used for the Pixel 6 devices to be sold in the United States. The report doesn"t come as a surprise since Google has been gradually drifting away from Qualcomm. In fact, Google and Samsung have collaborated on various aspects of the new generation of Pixel phones, including software components.
Google"s supposed partnership with the South Korean tech giant marks a huge boost for Samsung"s modem technology as it will bring the firm"s cellular connectivity hardware to the U.S., where Qualcomm is the dominant player. It"s worth noting that even Samsung relies on Qualcomm to supply the chips and modems for the U.S. versions of its smartphones.
The report also claims that Samsung"s 5G modem will feature mmWave connectivity, and Google previously confirmed its latest flagship smartphones will support that high-frequency band as well. However, both Google and Samsung remain mum on the report.