MWC 2016: Spreadtrum SC9860 16nm chipset announced


spreadturm 16nm chipset

Chinese chip maker Spreadtrum have announced a new chipset and it’s first 16nm octacore processor to date, the specifications speak for themselves.

When we talk about smartphones it is usually Mediatek or Qualcomm that get much of the attention. Sure there are times Samsung get in the picture and Huawei has Kirin but generally there are only 2 main chip provides for phones, so far.

Chinese semiconductor manufacturer Spreadtrum have announced their all new SC9860 chips at MWC in Barcelona and the specs are really impressive.

The 64bit oct-core chipset is built on a super efficient 16nm architecture meaning it’s more energy-efficient than rival processors that still use 20nm or 28nm tech. The SC9860 runs at up to 2.0Ghz via 8 x A53 cores and bas a built in Mali T880 MP4 GPU for graphics, easily enough grunt for 4K video.

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Speaking of 4K, the chipset supports playback own recording of Ultra HD4K2K video, via sensors of up to 26 mega-pixels. Supported screens can have a WQXGA resolution of 2560 x 1600.

LTE is part of the package too with the Spreadtrum chip offering Hybrid TDD/FDD network with an LTE Ca7 modem good for a downlink transmission rate f up to 300Mbps.

It’s all very impressive still especially the fact that Spreadtrum have managed to be one of the first to release a 16nm chipset.

Interestingly Spredtrum is the same chip maker that was linked to investment deals with Xiaomi last year, and the announcement of this chip coincides with rumours that Xiaomi might move over to its own chipset later this year for certain phones!

Speaking for Xiaomi keep posted for Xiaomi Mi5 launch news and updates tomorrow live from the event.

Previous MWC 2016: Blackview A8 $43 phone with iPhone camera and R7 flagship
Next Ulefone Power gets its first OTA update

36 Comments

  1. February 23, 2016

    This is getting more and more interesting. The release of this Spreadtrum SC9860 will further increase the mid-range phone price battle and also reduce costs for we end users … haha.

    • Rob
      February 23, 2016

      That’s assuming manufacturers use it, can’t remember the last time I saw a phone using one of their chipsets.

      • Assefa Hanson
        February 23, 2016

        A few entry level lava and intex phones i believe use them

  2. MaxPower
    February 23, 2016

    Mediatek watch out. Your just announced P20 already looks outdated

    • Marco Lancaster
      February 23, 2016

      Yeah I was expecting at least 2x A72 cores on it. It should be good anyway, but Qualcomm will take the leap again with their 650 and 652 offerings, after a whole year with the terribles 615 and the other that I forgot now (lol)

      • MaxPower
        February 23, 2016

        No need for A72s, especially for midrangers.
        The only reason they exist is to run benchmarks.

        8xA53 is enough to guarantee a light battery usage while running anything smoothly.
        In a couple of years maybe will say it differently, but now? Marketing in my opinion, only marketing.

  3. Achilles
    February 23, 2016

    Great news but I haven’t seen a single company implementing Spreadtrum socs yet.

    • realjjj
      February 23, 2016

      Samsung and Huawei are big enough for you?

  4. balcobomber25
    February 23, 2016

    My MWC is coming to a close. It was a little underwhelming from a Chinese phones standpoint but hopefully Xiaomi can save the day with their announcement.

    As for this it sounds great on paper but like everyone else is saying, who uses these chips?

    • Fábio
      February 23, 2016

      Hi Balco, the Mwc meet your expectations? Did you liked?

      • balcobomber25
        February 23, 2016

        I liked it because for me I got to meet a lot of people I work with everyday through emails and skype but never face to face. I liked it because there were a few phones I got exclusive access to (Gionee S8 and HP Elite!). And I liked it because it was my first time to Spain and Barcelona is such a beautiful city.

        • Fábio
          February 23, 2016

          Very well friend! ?

  5. wackenroader
    February 23, 2016

    Good news, now the intel seriously competes in the mid-range market, I predict Samsung flooding the “developing countries” with plasticphones using this soc.

  6. realjjj
    February 23, 2016

    You are confusing Spreadtrum with Leadcore.They don’t need Xiaomi money.
    Spreadtrum is owned by Tsinghua Unigroup and they have any money they might need.They could buy Mediatek if Taiwan would let them- that’s not a joke.Not long ago Tsinghua made a 23 billion offer for Micron. Money is not something they lack.
    As for them not being in phones, they should have shipped over 200 million low end SoCs last year on some 1.45 billion $ revenue. Sure we only see them in some Samsung or Huawei devices we know but there are others.

  7. roni24
    February 23, 2016

    looks like helio p10 is old news and definitely over priced
    i hope that they will not have GPS problems as MediaTek had in the early days

    • Steven Fox
      February 24, 2016

      P10 is not a bad chip, I expect it to make it`s way into 140$ phones by a month or two, slowly replacing the 6753.

  8. Michael Ogbonnaya
    February 23, 2016

    This is getting more and more interesting. The release of this Spreadtrum SC9860 will further increase the mid-range phone price battle and also reduce costs for we end users … haha.

    • Rob
      February 23, 2016

      That’s assuming manufacturers use it, can’t remember the last time I saw a phone using one of their chipsets.

    • Assefa Hanson
      February 23, 2016

      A few entry level lava and intex phones i believe use them

  9. MaxPower
    February 23, 2016

    Mediatek watch out. Your just announced P20 already looks outdated

    • Marco Lancaster
      February 23, 2016

      Yeah I was expecting at least 2x A72 cores on it. It should be good anyway, but Qualcomm will take the leap again with their 650 and 652 offerings, after a whole year with the terribles 615 and the other that I forgot now (lol)

    • MaxPower
      February 24, 2016

      No need for A72s, especially for midrangers.
      The only reason they exist is to run benchmarks.

      8xA53 is enough to guarantee a light battery usage while running anything smoothly.
      In a couple of years maybe will say it differently, but now? Marketing in my opinion, only marketing.

  10. Achilles
    February 23, 2016

    Great news but I haven’t seen a single company implementing Spreadtrum socs yet.

    • realjjj
      February 23, 2016

      Samsung , Lenovo and Huawei are big enough for you? Them and many others have been using Spreadtrum. They do sell over 200 million units per year.They are more relevant than Intel in phones, although to be fair Intel does actually have a stake in Spreadtrum.

  11. balcobomber25
    February 23, 2016

    My MWC is coming to a close. It was a little underwhelming from a Chinese phones standpoint but hopefully Xiaomi can save the day with their announcement.

    As for this it sounds great on paper but like everyone else is saying, who uses these chips?

    • Fábio
      February 23, 2016

      Hi Balco, the Mwc meet your expectations? Did you liked?

    • balcobomber25
      February 23, 2016

      I liked it because for me I got to meet a lot of people I work with everyday through emails and skype but never face to face. I liked it because there were a few phones I got exclusive access to (Gionee S8 and HP Elite!). And I liked it because it was my first time to Spain and Barcelona is such a beautiful city.

    • Fábio
      February 23, 2016

      Very well friend! 😉

  12. wackenroader
    February 23, 2016

    Good news, now the intel seriously competes in the mid-range market, I predict Samsung flooding the “developing countries” with plasticphones using this soc.

  13. realjjj
    February 23, 2016

    You are confusing Spreadtrum with Leadcore.They don’t need Xiaomi money.
    Spreadtrum is owned by Tsinghua Unigroup and they have any money they might need.They could buy Mediatek if Taiwan would let them- that’s not a joke.Not long ago Tsinghua made a 23 billion offer for Micron. Money is not something they lack.
    As for them not being in phones, they should have shipped over 200 million low end SoCs last year on some 1.45 billion $ revenue. Sure we only see them in some Samsung or Huawei devices we know but there are others.

  14. Guest
    February 23, 2016

    looks like helio p10 is old news and definitely over priced
    i hope that they will not have GPS problems as MediaTek had in the early days

    • Steven Fox
      February 24, 2016

      P10 is not a bad chip, I expect it to make it`s way into 140$ phones by a month or two, slowly replacing the 6753.

  15. JNG_RULZ
    February 23, 2016

    So i was kinda suprise for this…Now, lets just see…

    and also………

    POOR MARVELL, What is happened to them anyways!?

  16. Guest
    February 24, 2016

    So i was kinda suprise for this…Now, lets just see…

    and also………

    POOR MARVELL, What is happened to them anyways!?

  17. Muhammad Yasir
    February 24, 2016

    PLEASE LET THIS BE A COMMON DENOMINATOR IN SUPER CHEAP PHONES !

  18. Guest
    February 24, 2016

    PLEASE LET THIS BE A COMMON DENOMINATOR IN SUPER CHEAP PHONES !