Sony won't release any quad-core phones until next year, an executive has said. The reason? The performance doesn't yet meet its expectations.
"We're going to join quad-core when we feel that the performance matches the battery efficiency," Sony Mobile product marketing manager Stephen Sneeden told our sister site CNET Asia at Mobile World Congress. "Because right now we don't feel that is there."
While it waits for quad-core to catch up, Sony will be choosing a different style of innards for its phones. "What we're going to be doing in the second half of the year is moving to the Cortex A16 architecture, which we feels outperforms the current quad-core architecture," Sneeden went on.
He predicts next year the time will be right for Sony to make the jump. "You'll see in 2013, as we're evaluating the quad-core performance where it makes sense, where you're not suffering in quality and the performance truly is there, and there really is something that demanding applications need," he said. "That's when we make the right move to quad-core."
Sony debuted two dual-core models at Mobile World Congress: the Xperia P (pictured above) and Xperia U, both of which run will Android 2.3 Gingerbread at launch. Others were more keen to roll out quad-core mobiles, however, with both Huawei and HTC jumping on-board the quad-core bandwagon. (That's a pretty nippy bandwagon, I'd wager.)
As well as the Xperia U and P, the Sony Xperia Ion will be touching down in the UK soon. Again, it's dual-core, but many would argue that's fast enough.
In our HTC One X hands-on (video below), we wondered if a quad-core processor could be overkill. With cameras generally topping out at 12 megapixels, the megapixel race is pretty much over (unless Nokia's just started round two, that is), so processors could be next in the numbers game. Sure, quad-core looks better on paper, but will it actually make much difference to the handset's performance? Or will it just bump up the price tag with no discernible benefits?
Let me know if you agree with Sony's stance, or if you think quad-core is what it's all about right now. Jot your thoughts in the comments box below, or on our Facebook page. And for everything Mobile World Congress, head to mwc.cnet.co.uk.
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anonymous 1 March, 2012 14:06
Quad core desktop PC CPU's are not fully utilised and they've been available for years now.
I think a more optimal dual core is the better choice, I agree with Sony.
What's the point sucking the battery dry if there's no really performance benefit?
samuelc 1 March, 2012 14:45
"We're going to join quad-core when we feel that the performance matches the battery efficiency" - read between the lines - We aren't as technologically up to speed as other mobile companies
Aaron Asare 1 March, 2012 17:06
It genuinely make me laugh when people like Tech Radar’s John McCann say the Sony is already being left behind (http://goo.gl/mfnFZ). Dual-core processors such as the 1.5Ghz Qualcomm S4 (Krait) have been shown to have comparable performance to the 1.3Ghz quad-core cortex A-9 Tegra 3, there is no point in going quad-core if it does not offer significant performance advantages. Going quad-core just so you can say my stick is bigger than yours is pointless when all it is going to do it jack up the cost of the devices and kill the battery faster. Quad-core Qualcomm S4 (Krait) Snapdragons will not be available until the end of the year at the earliest according to Qualcomm’s Raj Talluri (http://youtu.be/JgPu1lrAjhU?hd=1), and apparently quad-core ARM Cortex A-15 based processors will not be available until next year anyway so it is likley that these are the quad-core processors that Sony are waiting for. It is disappointing however, that the new Sony Xperia devices are packing Qualcomm S3 processors not the new S4s.
Naryan 2 March, 2012 10:11
It sounds like a cop-out, but in actuality I think he's right.
"Quad-core" is being used right now to sell devices just because of the word "quad", honestly I'm pretty sure the minds behind marketing figured it worth be worth the supply chain cost of getting quad-core processors because they know people would see "quad-core" and just buy it, regardless of absolutely minimal performance benefit. And it really is *minimal*.
To be fair, Sony are probably only saying this because they don't have the spare cash to be investing in quad-cores, and they don't think it'll bring the money into their pockets, but that doesn't mean the statement is a lie. I think it's true.
Loadit 3 March, 2012 16:47
Sony are right. There is not a lot of software out there yet that can use quad core so where is the benefit?