Nvidia believes its Tegra 3 SoC is the best thing since sliced bread and claims we will see up to 30 phones based on the quad-core chip by the end of the year.

However, it is worth noting that various SKUs are included in the number, so every device customized for carriers counts as a design win, but really - it should not. What is perhaps more interesting is the pricing. Nvidia exec Mike Rayfield said 13 of the design wins will have a transfer price of under $300, significantly lower than last year’s crop of Tegra 2 phones.

The Achilles heel of Tegra chips has been the lack of LTE support, which is fast becoming a must-have feature in the US market. Qualcomm managed to successfully exploit this shortcoming with its state of the art Krait architecture. However, Nvidia is about to get some LTE of its own. AT&T has certified its first LTE modem, the Icera 410, and Nvidia is already working on the next generation Icera 500. In spite of the good news Nvidia will not have an integrated LTE solution until next generation Tegra chips start shipping sometime next year.

Standalone Icera LTE 410 could end up in Tegra 3 devices in the latter part of the year, but Qualcomm will still maintain a clear lead with its S4 series.

More here.