A number of prominent mobile vendors have reportedly selected Nvidia’s dual-core Tegra 2 to power a new generation of tablets.
According to DigiTimes, Asustek, Acer, Toshiba and Samsung are slated to deploy the powerful, next-gen SoC in tablet devices beginning in 2011.
As Phandroid’s Quentyn Kennemer points out, Samsung’s decision to use a Tegra 2 chip in their flagship Galaxy-class tablets – rather than an indigenously designed processor like Hummingbird – is certainly quite a PR boost for Nvidia.
“We already knew LG and Motorola, [as] even bigger names than some on the list above were in on it, but Samsung joining that list comes as a bit of a shocker for their Galaxy line,” explained Kennemer.
“When Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun mentioned last month that Samsung was among their list of most important partners, we figured Samsung were looking to put the technology to work in their internet-connected televisions, blu-ray players, and netbooks.”
However, Kennemer warned that Samsung would have to launch their Tegra 2-based tablet in Q1 if it was to have any chance of competing in the crowded mobile marketplace.
“Motorola is expected to show their Honeycomb tablet and phone off at the upcoming CES trade show, LG already has phones announced and ready for release in a few regions, and they could easily steal any thunder Samsung planned to roll.
“[So], if Samsung is indeed planning to unveil a Tegra 2 Honeycomb tablet for Q1 or early Q2, expect to see them doing it at the Mobile World Congress in February or at the big CTIA show in March, just as they did their Galaxy S line.”
Nicole Scott of NetBook News expressed similar sentiments.
“The information regarding Tegra 2 customers is not much of a surprise. [Still], the inclusion of Samsung’s name to the list might suggest that they may be departing from its current strategy of developing its own hardware platform for tablets,” Scott opined.
“[Of course], Samsung has yet to confirm that it will produce tablets built with Tegra 2 chips, so it’s all just speculation at this stage of the game. [Yet], strong graphics performance and Flash support have been credited with helping to push Tegra 2 sales – while Nvidia is said to be offering attractive discounts to promote the platform.”
