Samsung is looking to build a custom processor for its flagship smartphones. The work on it has already begun but reports suggest the Galaxy-exclusive chipset will not arrive until 2025. It appears the company doesn’t want to rush with it and would rather take time to focus on quality and performance. According to a recent rumor on Twitter, Samsung will have about 1,000 employees from its semiconductor and smartphone divisions jointly working on the project. The joint task force will be active in July this year. The company wants to ensure that the software-hardware integration is up to the mark.
The new report doesn’t reveal anything else about this Galaxy-only processor. However, it suggests Samsung is aiming to surpass the “Apple Silicon” in terms of performance. That’s a bold ambition but the Korean firm has the resources and expertise to pull it off.
Samsung decided to develop Galaxy-exclusive processors following the GOS controversy
Samsung is one of the very few companies around the world with a semiconductor fabrication facility. It not only designs and manufactures its own Exynos-branded chips but also manufactures for others. However, the company’s smartphone and semiconductor divisions have a buy-sell relationship. As such, we also see processors from the likes of Qualcomm and MediaTek in Galaxy smartphones since Samsung’s smartphone division has the freedom to choose components that best suit a new product.
But the recent GOS (Game Optimization Service) controversy has forced the Korean firm to have the two business divisions work jointly on a Galaxy-exclusive processor. Samsung was found to be artificially limiting the performance of certain apps and games on its flagship devices for battery efficiency and thermal management. A custom-made processor may be able to handle these issues better and hence the company is going this route.
Samsung may have a much bigger plan here, though. It likely wants to create a robust product ecosystem like Apple. Other Android manufacturers are also trying to emulate the iPhone maker. Chinese firm Oppo is developing a similar custom processor. Google has already started shipping its Pixel smartphones with custom Tensor chips, manufactured by Samsung. So it’s not surprising to see the Korean firm get on the act too.
Samsung is expected to introduce the 2nm process node in 2025. So the first Galaxy-exclusive processor could be a 2nm chipset. It will be interesting to see what the company has up its sleeves as it looks to go after Apple and create its own product ecosystem. We will let you know as and when more information emerges.