Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip-enabled phones to support built-in 'iSIMs'

Barcelona, March 1

Chip maker Qualcomm and French IT company Thales have announced the certification of the world's first commercially deployable iSIM (Integrated SIM) on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform, enabling the functionality of a SIM within a smartphone's main processor.

The GSMA (Global Association for the Mobile Communications Industry) security certification ensures that the iSIM meets the same high standards of cyber-security and flexible 'anytime, anywhere' connectivity as the latest generation of embedded SIMs (eSIMs).

"We are very pleased to see our investment in high assurance processor hardware security, in collaboration with Thales, achieving the security and functional bar required by the GSMA for Remote Provisioning UICC use case," Ziad Asghar, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, said in a statement.

Moreover, the new iSIM can now provide device makers with additional opportunities to save space, reduce build and supply chain costs, and maintain best-in-class security levels.

The new iSIM, like Thales' eSIM, comes fully compliant with the GSMA Remote SIM Provisioning standard, meaning subscriptions can be managed remotely via any standard platform, according to the company.

"Alongside the increasingly popular eSIM, the Thales 5G iSIM gives device makers and mobile operators even greater freedom to offer their customers effortless over-the-air connectivity, and more exciting and accessible product designs," Guillaume Lafaix, vice president of embedded products at Thales Mobile and Connectivity Solutions, said in a statement.

Further, the chipmaker mentioned that the global iSIM shipments are predicted to reach 300 million by 20271 and intended to complement SIM and eSIM market offer.