Source: Lei Technology AI Hardware Group | Editor: kkknei | Layout: LIN

Since the Galaxy S3 series, Samsung has adopted a “dual-chip strategy” using Qualcomm and Exynos chips, releasing models with different chips based on local market demands.Although there are performance differences between the chips, Samsung has maintained a balance between the two, for example, the Galaxy S3 used Qualcomm’s MSM8960 and Exynos 4412, where the former has an architectural advantage while the latter excels in multi-core performance.

(Image source: Samsung)However, in recent years, due to Qualcomm’s rapid development in the mobile sector, Samsung Electronics has had to prioritize releasing S series models equipped with contemporary flagship Qualcomm chips in more countries/regions. By the time of the Galaxy S23 series release last year, Samsung had completely abandoned the “dual-chip strategy” and only launched versions equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform.Of course, to support the growth of Exynos chips and enhance the market influence of the Samsung S series, Samsung has decided to reintroduce Exynos chips in the Galaxy S25 series, continuing the “dual-chip strategy”. However, according to the latest information shared by well-known tech blogger @Tech_Reve, Samsung may establish a brand new chip brand to unify Qualcomm Snapdragon and Samsung Exynos chips.With the establishment of this new brand, can Samsung’s flagship mobile chips return to the battlefield and find a place in the rapidly changing smartphone market?

A New Chip Brand is Here!

Samsung Has a New Chip in the Game

Unlike the previous “dual-chip strategy”, the new chip brand established by Samsung will encompass both Samsung’s self-developed Exynos chips and Qualcomm’s flagship chips, with the latter potentially being exclusive versions designed specifically for Samsung.In fact, the collaboration between Samsung and Qualcomm has deepened significantly. Last year, Samsung equipped its flagship Galaxy S23 series with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy mobile platform, clearly indicating that the “For Galaxy” suffix carries exclusive connotations and significance for Samsung.

(Image source: Samsung)The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 For Galaxy has a slightly higher main frequency than the standard version, with the former’s super core clocked at 3.36GHz compared to 3.19GHz for the standard version. After the exclusivity period, this chip was renamed “Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Leading Edition” and began to be used in other models, such as the Red Magic 8S Pro.In this year’s Galaxy S24 series, Qualcomm continued to provide Samsung with an exclusive version of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, still with the “For Galaxy” suffix, and overall, the only difference compared to the standard version is a slight adjustment in the main frequency.Up to this point, this collaboration model is not much different from the previous “exclusive” model, similar to how early mobile brands often had a period of exclusivity for newly launched chips, after which they lost their unique competitive edge.For Samsung, this level of collaboration is still not deep enough.It can be simply understood that Samsung aims to create a chip brand named “Galaxy”, but in reality, it will be a joint effort between Samsung and Qualcomm to provide chip products, ensuring that the user experience remains similar. More importantly, Qualcomm may also design chips specifically tailored to Samsung’s needs, which is different from the earlier “8 For Galaxy”.

(Image source: Samsung)For Samsung, this collaboration can diminish Qualcomm’s brand presence in Samsung’s S series flagship products, thereby popularizing the concept of Samsung mobile chips and enhancing the market position of Samsung’s flagship phones. This model is somewhat similar to Apple’s collaboration scheme for display components, where the public generally believes that the iPhone’s display performance is good, but few users realize that it actually comes from products supplied by Samsung, LG, and BOE.More importantly, having Qualcomm provide customized flagship chips will help Samsung implement more planned features, especially given the current market’s focus on AI large models, where a sufficiently powerful NPU is essential to maximize these features.

(Image source: 9to5google)Currently, there are still many controversial voices regarding this plan, such as whether Samsung’s Exynos chips can match the performance of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8? What advantages does the new chip brand have compared to the previous ones? These questions may only be answered at the Galaxy S25 series launch event.

New Brand Chips Await Implementation

Exynos Still Needs Improvement

At the Samsung Galaxy S24 series launch event, the long-awaited Exynos flagship chip made a comeback, and as a flagship chip returning after a year, the Exynos 2400 delivered a gratifying performance.In terms of specifications, the Exynos 2400 retains the previous generation’s 10-core architecture, consisting of 1 core at 3.2GHz Cortex-X4, 2 cores at 2.9GHz Cortex-A720, 3 cores at 2.6GHz Cortex-A720, and 4 cores at 2GHz Cortex-A520 for high efficiency. Samsung particularly showcased its AI performance, which has surged 14.7 times compared to the previous generation.However, according to foreign media tests, there are still some gaps between the Exynos 2400 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, mainly in certain high-power consumption scenarios, which may be related to software debugging.It is evident that if Samsung intends to use a brand new chip brand to encompass the “dual-chip strategy”, it must ensure that the differences between the two chips are minimal, which is a significant challenge.

(Image source: Samsung)And the real competition will look to the future, such as when both Samsung and Qualcomm adopt 3nm process technology. Reports indicate that both Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Samsung Exynos 2500 flagship chips will utilize 3nm process technology, but the former will be provided by TSMC while the latter will be handled by Samsung. TSMC’s 3nm process technology made its debut at last year’s Apple fall event, but the performance improvements of the A17 Pro and Apple M3 chips were not as significant as expected.This means that 3nm is a major test for both TSMC and Samsung, not to mention a series of chip design companies like Apple and Qualcomm.It is foreseeable that if Samsung can make further efforts in the remaining half of the year to bring the Exynos 2500 close to the level of Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, it should not be a problem.According to Qualcomm’s plan, it is expected to shift to self-developed architecture next year, which is also something Samsung needs to consider. If Qualcomm’s flagship chips achieve a new level of performance with the support of a new architecture, it will be challenging for Samsung to balance the performance differences between the two chips.

Betting on AI Hardware

Has Samsung Hit the Jackpot?

As a flagship phone, the Galaxy S series has garnered a massive fan base in the global market since its inception, but with the intense competition in the smartphone market, where each brand has found its unique positioning and characteristics, Samsung appears somewhat passive. However, this situation was broken by the Galaxy S24 series, which is the world’s first phone defined as an “AI Phone”.

(Image source: Samsung)With the addition of AI features, the Galaxy S24 series has set new sales records for Samsung. Reports indicate that the Galaxy S24 series may reach sales of 10 million units in its first month, with 3.2 million units sold in the North American market and over a million pre-orders in South Korea. It can be said that by establishing the “AI Phone” concept, Samsung has once again created market demand, further deepening the brand concept.This is a good start for Samsung, and the next task is to maintain this strategy, continue to create a unified concept that aligns with the brand’s tone, and help users better understand the new Samsung. For example, by establishing a new chip brand.The concept of AI phones has been widely recognized in the industry as the next trend in the smartphone market. For instance, OPPO plans to officially define its products as “AI Phones” during the 2024 Lunar New Year; even more aggressively, Meizu’s new Meizu 21 PRO has completely abandoned the traditional concept of “smartphone” and is defined as an AI terminal.

(Image source: Samsung)In the future, consumers may no longer pursue the extreme performance of processors, as most users find it difficult to feel the pressure of large games or extreme battery life during the short experience time. However, AI features are very intuitive and obvious; whether it can use AIGC to generate images or engage in continuous dialogue using natural language are experiences that can be felt immediately.After establishing a new chip brand, Samsung may focus more on deeply exploring the direction of “AI Phone”, downplaying the mention of chip performance parameters, and concentrating on enhancing AI computing power, making the concept of “AI chip” easily understandable to consumers and strengthening the brand’s conceptualization.Betting on AI helps Samsung regain its footing in the flagship market, breaking sales records and generating buzz, and even the “Galaxy AI” concept has begun to take root in people’s minds. The next step is to unify the concept in the mobile semiconductor field. Whether the Galaxy S series can quickly return to a competitive level with the iPhone in the coming years may hinge on this crucial move.End