No one could ever have expected this, but it looks like the next technological race in smartphones is going to revolve around creating smartphone processors that are capable of 64-bit processing, as Apple unveiled its new iPhone 5s and touted it as the world’s first smartphone to include a 64-bit processor. Samsung’s mobile business chief Shin Jong-kyun told The Korea Times: “Not in the shortest time. But yes, our next smartphones will have 64-bit processing functionality.”
It’s still up in the air whether 64-bit processing is really needed in smartphones, as one of its biggest advantages – ability to have more than 4GB of RAM – is totally moot in current smartphones, with only the Galaxy Note 3 coming close with its 3 gigs of RAM (though a not-so-great benefit of faster code processing will still be useful, but even that can come at the expense of high RAM usage, something Android is already guilty of). But since Apple has it in their new iPhone, it’s completely unsurprising that Samsung is going to be following suit, so it’s possible we’ll see the Galaxy S5 sporting a 64-bit processor, and maybe even 4GB of RAM.
Shin also mentioned that Samsung is looking to step up its efforts in China and Japan, again, as a result of Apple recently ramping up efforts in the two markets, announcing a deal with Japan’s largest carrier NTT DoCoMo, and a launch of the new iPhone in China on day one. “Samsung understands that Apple intends to boost its mobile business in China, as well as in Japan, meaning that we should try harder in these countries.”
So, true octa-core processors, followed by 64-bit ones. Looks like things are about to get crazy in the mobile silicon universe, and we can all thank Apple for at least some part of it.