Qualcomm might announce its next-generation chipset for smartwatches on September 10. The chip-maker has reportedly sent out media invites for an event on September 10. The event has a big smartwatch plastered on it with the text – “It’s Time, 9.10 Set your watches”. Thanks to the invite, it is speculated that Qualcomm might finally release an update to its Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset which powers almost all WearOS (formerly known as Android Wear) smartwatches. The Snapdragon Wear 2100 was launched back in 2016, so it's long-due for a refresh. The new wear-series chipset from Qualcomm could bring improvements to the overall performance of WearOS devices, including better battery life and optimisation of Always-on displays.
In an older (May, 2018) interview with Wearable.com, Pankaj Kedia, Qualcomm’s Senior Wearables Director, had said that the company will announce an updated chipset for watches and other wearables in autumn 2018, alongside a “lead” device. We’re not sure if Qualcomm is also making a smartwatch on its own, because it used to do so back in the day. At the time of the interview, Kedia had also told the publication that “by the holidays several partners will have Wear OS smartwatches with the new chipset on the market.”
The new Wear chipset succeeding the Snapdragon Wear 2100 is expected to be designed from the ground up rather than being an iterative update. The Wear 2100 was built on a outdated 28nm process, and Qualcomm is expected to launch something more current this time around.