The mobile processor design company Appliances ARM, during the Tech Day event, predicts that the cost of single-core smartphones will soon fall to the level of 20 dollars.
According to the website AnandTech, the prediction concerns models that will probably use the Cortex A5 single-core processor. In fact, ARM considers that one of such a level drop price will take place within the next few months.
Smartphones in this category will have to drastically limit the installed RAM and other technical features in order to limit the selling price as well. However, as ARM itself points out, a current single-core Processor as the Cortex A5 is clearly faster than the ARM11 that powered the first generation iPhone in 2007 that cost $599.
In general, ARM predicts that the mobile market will gradually shift from the level of high end devices to those with features mid-range and entry level, i.e. towards devices with medium and low technical characteristics. The company estimates that by 2018 more than one will be sold billion entry level devices, i.e. cost up to 150 dollars. This prediction means a doubling, in relation to the devices of the category that are sold today.
Finally, the company also released a series of assessments of the performance of the upcoming Cortex A53 and A57 processors on 64-bit. Processors based on these architectures will be faster up to 1,5 times than the Cortex A7 and A15 architecture models. The first models based on the Cortex A53 and A57 architectures will make their appearance within 2014.
