According to ARM ecosystem director Nizar Romdan, the company will release mobile graphics chips as powerful as the ones in Xbox One and PlayStation 4 by the end of 2017.
Speaking at Casual Connect in Amsterdam, Romdan noted that mobile graphics have already exceeded that of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and is steadily getting better. Of course Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were released nearly two and half years ago, and they never outperformed top-of-the-line PC graphics even at the day of launch. Nonetheless, console is what sets customer expectations when it comes to graphics quality.
Romdan admits that mobile chips are limited by battery life and form factor considerations so they would never replace consoles in home entertainment. However he sees the advent of Virtual Reality technology, which is already seeing great success on mobile devices, as the definitive way for his company's chips into the hands of hardcore gamers.
"Our view is that mobile VR is the use case that could unlock the potential of mobile for hardcore gamers," he explained. "For once, mobile devices are on par with PC and consoles in terms of experience. We won't have the same processing. And battery life is a problem. But it is the same user experience. That could be a game changer for mobile gaming."
