Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 is one of the most critical SoC (system-on-chip) solutions the company has launched, and it should start to announce design wins within weeks. On the chip’s heavyweight shoulders is the challenge of maintaining Qualcomm’s performance lead over rivals like MediaTek while adapting to the smartphone price war; and of winning back business from key customers like Samsung while defending existing clients (Apple’s iPhone from Intel, most importantly). Samsung is reported to be testing the 820 for some Galaxy S7 models, despite its rising use of its inhouse processor/modem solutions (it is also supposedly manufacturing some 820 products). If the chip does find its way into a flagship Galaxy device, it would be a very important deal, in…