Samsung made headlines last week when it promised a 2GHz smartphone CPU for 2012. It wasn’t long ago that such a thing didn’t even seem possible, and the news sparked plenty of conversations about how fast the industry is moving. However, it seems Samsung’s lofty promise has already been outdone by Qualcomm, which is planning new single, dual and quad core Snapdragons that will reach clock speeds 2.5GHz.

A leaked Qualcomm presentation details the company’s plans for its next-generation Snapdragon processors, the MSM8270, MSM8930 and MSM8960 processors, and the APQ8064. Electronista reports that these chips are expected to be as much as five times faster than their predecessors in raw CPU power with four times faster graphics and "console quality gaming." The slides, first posted by MobileTechWorld, also detail 1080p video playback on tablets and other large display devices, stereoscopic 3D capture and playback, and support for 7.1 Dolby, and a 20-megapixel camera.

All of the CPUs are expected to sample before the end of the year but don’t expect to see any products until 2012 at the earliest.

Further Reading

MobileTechWorld: Qualcomm roadmap detailed: Quad Core CPU and GPU chipsets coming later this year

Electronista: Qualcomm gives clues to next-gen Snapdragon chips