Samsung is making strategic changes to the application processors (AP) it uses on its phones, opting to use more Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets and MediaTek SoCs over its own Exynos chips. This shift has resulted in a decrease in Exynos-powered handsets shipped by Samsung during the fourth quarter of 2023, leading to a 44% drop in revenue from Exynos chipsets year-over-year.
In an effort to lower costs and enhance performance, Samsung spent $8.87 billion on mobile chipsets in 2023, a 3.1% increase from the previous year. The company faced a 30% increase in chip prices in 2023, prompting the move towards using more Exynos chips on its phones in 2024. Samsung plans to invest in improving the performance and power efficiency of its Exynos chips to stay competitive in the market.
Samsung is incorporating Exynos chips into its Galaxy A35 and Galaxy A55 mid-range models while phasing out MediaTek chipsets from its low-end models. This decision contradicts previous reports suggesting that MediaTek was offering special deals to Samsung for using more of its chipsets on low-end Galaxy handsets.
Despite rumors that Samsung would exclusively use Exynos chips for its flagship Galaxy S25 series in 2025, recent news of a multi-year agreement between Qualcomm and Samsung suggests otherwise. This partnership will see Qualcomm supplying Snapdragon 8 series chips for Samsung’s Galaxy S flagship line, indicating a continued collaboration between the two tech giants.
