Qualcomm would like you to stop calling Snapdragon processors “processors”

(credit: Qualcomm)

Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors are its most notable products, but the company wants you to know that it does other stuff, too. The solution? "Snapdragon" branding will no longer be used to refer to processors. It will instead refer to the entire hardware and software platform that ships in a phone with a Snapdragon SoC in it.

Here's the explanation about the thought process behind the "new naming structure:"

For decades, the semiconductor industry has used the term "processor" to mean the component that powers the most advanced devices. It's a word that Qualcomm Technologies has embraced over the years with our Snapdragon brand, or as we say-our Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. But the word is an inadequate representation of what the technology actually is, and the solutions that tens of thousands of Qualcomm Technologies innovators have worked on.

In truth, Snapdragon is more than a single component, a piece of silicon, or what many would misinterpret as the CPU; it's an anthology of technology, comprising hardware, software, and services that are not fully captured in a word like "processor." That is why Qualcomm Technologies is refining our terminology by referring to Snapdragon as a "platform" instead of a processor.

This is a more extreme version of something Qualcomm started doing in early 2015, when it got rid of its "Gobi" modem branding in favor of using "Snapdragon." Now, the Snapdragon name also encompasses features like Qualcomm's RF front-ends, Quick Charge, its digital-to-analog audio converters, Wi-Fi products, touchscreen controllers, and fingerprint readers, as well as the software and drivers used to make all of this stuff work.

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