A new report from Variety says Manu Gulati has been hired by Google to become chief SoC (system on a chip) architect. Gulati is a former Apple employee who worked in the company’s chip division for nearly eight years. He worked on processing for both iPhone and iPad. Google is said to be eager to move away from using third party silicon. Especially chips driven by Qualcomm technology, which is the dominant CPU brand on the mobile market. Indeed, it is Qualcomm’s silicon that sits in Google’s current Pixel and Pixel XL handsets, albeit with Google’s own optimizations. Qualcomm is also the chief supplier for HTC, Asus, LG, Lenovo, and many Samsung products. Google believes Qualcomm has a grip on the market and has been reportedly seeking to make its own CPUs for years. Gulati is certainly an ideal candidate to drive that desire. He started his stay with Apple in 2009 and was in control of the company’s custom chips for the iPhone, Apple TV, and iPad. Like Google, Apple uses silicon supplies for third parties and adds its own tech on top. During his time in Cupertino, Gulati was given credit as an inventor on 15 chip-related patents. Variety reports that Google has ramped up its efforts to create chip division. This has included hiring multiple positions for important roles.
Pixel Development
It is clear Google is looking to the future of the Pixel range and any proprietary chip will come in future generation devices. Clearly, with the Pixel 2 due to be launched this year, the company will not be using its own chips on that handset. Speaking of which, the Pixel 2 reportedly leaked today and sees Google return to LG as its device maker of choice. We will let you decide if you believe the leak or not.
