The computer chip used to power Google's new smartphone was born in the Triangle.
The up-and-coming Snapdragon chip was conceived and developed at the Raleigh offices of Qualcomm, the world's largest maker of chips for mobile phones.
Although you'll probably never see the 15-by-15-millimeter chip, there's a pretty good chance you'll end up owning a hand-held device that relies on Snapdragon's high performance and low power consumption. More than 15 companies are using Snapdragon in more than 40 devices - most of which haven't been released yet.
Snapdragon customers include the world's largest PC maker, Hewlett-Packard, along with Lenovo, Dell, Acer, LG and Samsung. The first Snapdragon product, which came out last summer, was a Toshiba TG01 smartphone sold overseas.
"They are gaining traction," said Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff. He predicts that the blockbuster Apple iPhone will join the Snapdragon fold this year.
The Snapdragon - with its proprietary Scorpion central processing unit, the brains of the product - has set new standards for processing speed and low power consumption when it comes to chips used in mobile handsets, said Ron Tessitore, senior vice president of engineering and head of Qualcomm's 275-employee Raleigh design center.
Snapdragon isn't just for smartphones. Its features have made it a popular choice for a new breed of hand-held device, known as smartbooks, that are a cross between a smartphone and a netbook.
"It puts us in a very good position for a new, emerging marketplace that is developing rapidly," said Ali Mesri, director of product management at Qualcomm.
One of the pioneers of the smartbook market is Chinese PC maker Lenovo, which has a world headquarters in Morrisville that employs 1,500. Its Snapdragon-based Skylight, which is expected to be available in April, is designed to be always on and connected to the Internet. Its battery life exceeds 10 hours.
"We think there is a big market here that hasn't been met by netbooks," said Ninis Samuel, Lenovo's director of mobile Internet product marketing.
Lenovo chose the Snapdragon for Skylight because it offers the best mix of speed and power, Samuel said.
Moving into the smartbook arena puts Qualcomm in competition with Intel, whose Atom processor dominates the netbook market, Modoff said. Qualcomm, meanwhile, dominates the smartphone market. Other companies with chips that compete with Snapdragon include Texas Instruments and Nvidia.
"If the market takes off as vendors are projecting, there will be enough business for multiple vendors in this space," said technology analyst Charles King of Pund-IT.
Overall, Qualcomm has weathered the recession relatively well. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 27, it posted $10.4 billion in revenue, down 7 percent from the previous year. Profit totaled $1.6 billion, a 50 percent decline from the year before. The company doesn't break out revenue from individual chip lines.
Apple's new iPad tablet, made public this week, will appeal to a very different audience than smartbooks, King said. For one thing, unlike smartbooks, the iPad won't allow users to multitask.
"If you're looking for a computing experience in a smaller, more affordable form ... the iPad ain't it," he said.
The ultimate success of Snapdragon is out of Qualcomm's control. The key is whether device makers such as Lenovo and Hewlett-Packard can make it the foundation of must-have products.
"You don't buy a car for the engine that's in it," King said. "You buy it for the wrapper that's around the engine."
Work on the Snapdragon began with a handful of former IBM-ers who left to form a local startup, Xcella, that took aim at creating a better chip for high-end, hand-held devices. Shortly after Xcella was incorporated in 2003, it was acquired by San Diego-based Qualcomm, which today is the world's largest maker of chips for mobile phones.
"They made us an offer we couldn't refuse," said Tessitore, who was CEO and co-founder of Xcella.
Qualcomm's Raleigh team already is working on the next generation of Snapdragon, which will be as much as 50percent faster. It is expected to be available for device makers to test drive in the next several months. Production is scheduled for next year.
"We have a really talented, highly skilled group," Tessitore said. "We knew there was a lot of local talent to pick from. That's why we chose RTP for our startup."
Tessitore anticipates the Raleigh office will add 15 to 20 workers this year.
Clearly, Qualcomm is here for the long-term. In 2008, the company exercised its option to buy the building it occupies in Brier Creek Corporate Center for $21.7 million.
