It has been revealed that Samsung Electronics will equip its upcoming Galaxy S25 series smartphones, set to be announced in the first half of next year, exclusively with application processors (AP) from Qualcomm, rather than its own in-house developed APs. Recently, there have been concerns that the price of the Galaxy S25 might increase due to Taiwan’s TSMC, the manufacturer of Qualcomm’s APs, showing signs of raising their prices.
According to industry sources, Samsung Electronics has decided not to use its own designed chip, the “Exynos 2500,” in the Galaxy S25 series. Instead, it is reported that the series will be equipped with Qualcomm’s “Snapdragon 8 Gen 4” AP. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is said to have improved key performance features by more than 30% compared to its predecessor, including the implementation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) functions. Samsung Electronics is considering using the Exynos 2500 in foldable phones scheduled for release in the second half of next year.
The AP is a crucial component that determines the performance of a smartphone, acting as its brain. Until now, Samsung Electronics has used a combination of Snapdragon and Exynos in most of its Galaxy S series. Typically, the top-tier “Ultra” models are equipped with Snapdragon, while the standard models are divided between Snapdragon and Exynos depending on the country. In the market, there was a strong expectation that the Galaxy S25 series would also use a combination of Snapdragon and Exynos.
However, it is said that issues with Exynos’ heat generation and power consumption have been a hindrance. Previously, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at Taiwan’s TF International Securities, predicted that the Exynos 2500 would not be released as scheduled due to Samsung Electronics’ low 3-nanometer (nm) GAA yield.
If Exynos is excluded, the pressure to increase the price of the Galaxy S25 series is unavoidable. According to Samsung Electronics’ semi-annual report, the cost of purchasing mobile APs in the first half of this year was 6.0275 trillion won, a 4.9% increase compared to the same period last year (5.7457 trillion won). This increase is due to the approximately 8% rise in the price of mobile APs compared to the previous year.
Taiwan’s TSMC, which manufactures Qualcomm’s APs, has recently shown signs of raising prices. Early last month, Taiwanese media reported that TSMC would increase the prices of its main 3-nanometer and 5-nanometer process products by 8%. Qualcomm is said to be demanding a 10-30% price increase with each new generation of Snapdragon. IT media outlet WCCF Tech reported that if the Galaxy S25 series is equipped solely with Snapdragon APs, the price of the devices could rise by 30%. A Samsung Electronics representative stated, “With about five months remaining until the release of the Galaxy S25, nothing has been decided yet.”
For Korean shopping and business agency services
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