There's real value in having ARMv8 chips as soon as possible. First off, the architecture is significantly improved over ARMv7. It's not just the 64-bit support

There's real value in having ARMv8 chips as soon as possible. First off, the architecture is significantly improved over ARMv7. It's not just the 64-bit support. Second, the transition to 64-bit is going to take 3-4 years after it begins anyway, which just means developers are going to have to support both 32-bit and 64-bit (and ARMv7 and ARMv8) for 3-4 more years, instead of just dumping ARMv7 as soon as possible, and supporting only ARMv8. The sooner everyone is moving to ARMv8, the better. The 8-core thing is indeed mainly a gimmick, and I don't know if Anand has real data on "Asians wanting 64-bit", or he just lumped it together with the "Asians want 8-cores" (where there is some data to support that). But I think almost everyone wants 64-bit as soon as possible, because 32-bit chips are on their last legs, and especially if you only upgrade every 2-3 years, it wouldn't be wise to buy a 32-bit one right now, or you'll see some (not all) apps start dropping support for ARMv7 mid-life of your phone.