Qualcomm has announced a new Snapdragon 400 SoC with integrated LTE. The first batch of 400-series chips were 3G only, which wasn’t much of an issue since they were designed for mid-range phones and emerging markets.

However, LTE is apparently becoming a must have feature in all market segments, hence the new MSM 8926 packs multimode 3G/4G LTE, along with four A7 cores clocked at 1.2GHz and Adreno 305 graphics. It seems like a very cheap way of getting LTE into mid-range and low-end devices.

In addition to the new SoC, Qualcomm also said it is introducing 7- and 10-inch reference tablet designs based on older, 3G version of the Snapdragon 400. Like the 400-series, they are aimed at emerging markets, and it seems Qualcomm is taking the Mediatek and other peddlers of cheap A7 SoCs seriously.

The first designs should be showcased at Computex.