Rumor: Google wants to work on socs together with chip manufacturers

Google is said to be in talks with manufacturers to design its own chips for Android devices. By participating in the design process, Google would like to counteract hardware fragmentation in the Android market.

Amir Efrati of The Information claims that Google held talks with chip manufacturers this fall. Google representatives are said to have shown designs of chips that they would like to develop in collaboration with manufacturers. It would include a full soc.

According to AppleInsider, Efrati writes that Google wants to achieve improved camera processing with its own chip design. That should allow faster shooting and continuous recording of the environment, while the photos are sent to Google for analysis. Google would also like to make processors with a larger cache memory and the company is interested in better motion sensors and infrared sensors for measuring distances.

However, it is questionable whether chip manufacturers such as Qualcomm and MediaTek want to exchange their own developed techniques for those of Google. According to Efrati, the chipmakers prefer their own technology over that of others, because they can then license it and make money. If Google is going to determine the properties of chips, it will also be more difficult for the chip makers to distinguish themselves from each other.

Google’s reason for getting involved in chip design is said to stem mainly from the hardware fragmentation in the Android device market. Since Apple designs its own socs, that manufacturer can more easily respond to new techniques with its iOS operating system. Because Google has to take into account many different chips, it is more difficult to add new possibilities or techniques in Android that depend on chips or sensors.

Google might also be able to use its self-designed socs to differentiate its own hardware from the competition. Currently, the Nexus smartphones are made by other manufacturers, but the design of, for example, the Pixel C is completely in Google’s control. In this hybrid, Google now uses a Tegra X1 soc from Nvidia.