On Nov 3rd, Chip-maker Qualcomm completed its sale of its subsidiary Vuforia, the augmented reality (AR) unit, to PTC that provides a worldwide platform for technology and solutions for $65 million. Vuforia is one of the leading platforms for AR technology. The platform enables apps to not only view, but also connect the physical realm with digital experiences, which propel audience engagement, need attention and offer customers value. Interestingly, this strategic divesture was made to streamline Qualcomm’s priorities and cost structures.

Qualcomm does have a largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels, expanding profit margins and notable return on equity. It is however plagued by deteriorating net income, weak operating cash flow and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself. Last year, it was plagued by lot of negative media coverage associated with the overheating issues with its Snapdragon 810 processor.

On Nov 4th, the Company reported $0.91 in earnings per share (EPS) on $5.5 billion in revenue. Not stellar by any means. Around this same time, there were rumors circulating that its new Snapdragon 820 processor chip may have overheating issues much like its predecessor the 810. The company quickly issued the following statement. “The rumors circulating in the media regarding Snapdragon 820 performance are false. The Snapdragon 820 improves on all IP blocks and is fabricated in the second generation of the 14nm process technology. It is meeting all of our specifications, but more importantly it is satisfying the thermal and performance specifications from our OEMs”.

For those of us that are waiting for Virtual Reality experience via mobility, there is a lot riding on this new Snapdragon 820 from Qualcomm. The new 820 is a custom-designed 64-bit quad-core CPU, a first for Qualcomm. It houses a new GPU, the Adreno 530. The Adreno 530 has been assembled using a more efficient 14nm FinFET process that is more precise that Qualcomm’s previous GPUs. According to Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 820 will use a whopping 30 percent less power than the Snapdragon 810 providing more battery efficiency to the mobile units.

With the 820, Qualcomm is also making a solid bet on Virtual Reality. The 820 processor makes the mobile 4K Ultra HD resolution possible. It’s not only about the number of pixels—it’s also about the quality of those pixels, and that’s where the Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU steps in. This new architecture delivers up to 40% faster performance than the previous generation, giving you high frame rates and smooth experiences. This will be hugely important for VR mobility applications.

Here is where things begin to get more interesting. Samsung just released the Gear VR that is only compatible with the Samsung phones. The new Gear VR is compatible with Galaxy Note5, S6 edge+, S6, and S6 edge. Samsung used its own Exynos processor instead of a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor in the Galaxy S6 launched this year. This was a major loss for Qualcomm this year.

Reliable phone leaker Evan Blass, @evleaks on Twitter has suggested on Friday that AT&T is already testing two new Samsung phones with the model numbers SM-G930A and SM-G935A which will likely turn out to be the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. Samsung rumor and news site Sammobile suggests that the S7 once again will be a phone that comes in both Exynos and Snapdragon 820 variants. If the 820 can produce a much better VR experience than the Exynos, it will definitely serve as a game changer for Qualcomm, which Qualcomm desperately needs.

The second entity that will be offering a VR headset is HTC. There’s a huge fan following around the HTC-Vive VR product. Around the time it releases the VR headset, there are rumors of it launching a new mobile device as well. Tweets from ROM developer @LlabTooFeR suggested that HTC’s next flagship would be the HTC M10 and the Snapdragon 820 chipset will be under the hood.

Sony was the other mobile device maker that was hurt because of the overheating issues associated with Snapdragon 810. According to Technodify, Sony’s latest flagship will be coming with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820, making the high end Xperia Z5 another device now rumored with Qualcomm’s fabled SoC. Sony is also counting on gaining a lot of momentum from its Playstation VR device next year.

All the three major players that are involved in introducing Virtual Reality based devices and gears are also expected to feature the Qualcomm 820 chipset in their high end mobile devices. There’s a lot riding for Qualcomm here to deliver on its VR promises via Snapdragon 820.

In order to market these high-end mobile devices, one can expect the mobile players to come up with some creative marketing package involving VR. For example, linking the Gear VR and Galaxy S7 could end up being a very clever way to push phone sales for Samsung, and perhaps convince those sitting on the VR fence to try this new technology with comparatively little extra cost. With rumors of a 4K display, the new Galaxy handset could very well end up being the device that helps bring VR to the masses. This in turn provides an opportunity to capture some of market share from Apple that it has been recently loosing.

If Samsung and the other major phone companies are successful in pushing their high end phones with VR package and gain market momentum, Qualcomm could emerge as a key VR player. There is definitely a reason to be euphoric.

More interestingly, I wonder what strategic actions does Apple take to counter this momentum of the three major mobile device makers if in fact the VR value proposition plays out well for them in helping them sell more devices and gain market share. With no mobile VR footprint as of yet, does Apple get in the game by acquiring other players or come up with other creative features in its future iphone offerings to make iphones still a very compelling offer against the price/value points of Samsung and the rest? I’m sure the folks at Apple are keeping a close watch and evaluating their strategic options. See our earlier story on Apple here.

No matter how it plays out between the three wise guys and an Apple, Qualcomm may finally begin to turn around and prove to its investors that it has value to offer via its innovative technologies when it comes to Virtual Reality. This will be major milestone for Virtual reality on mobile devices. Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR, recently suggested that the biggest wave of VR would arise from mobile.

As for fans of Virtual Reality, 2016 is definitely beginning to look like a very interesting year.