Samsung may ditch Snapdragon in Galaxy S9, S9+ and go with 7nm and 8nm processor

Some reports suggest that Samsung found its Exynos chipsets to have faster processing speeds than the Snapdragon processor.
 Samsung may ditch Snapdragon in Galaxy S9, S9+ and go with 7nm and 8nm processor
Samsung may ditch Snapdragon in Galaxy S9, S9+ and go with 7nm and 8nm processor
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There are rumors that the smartphone market leader may choose to go with the 7nm and 8nm processors in their next flagships the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the S9+. The actual release of the phones is still a long time away, but the speculations have already begun.

What might have triggered these discussions, about what processor the company will release, in its new set of smartphones is the decision made by Qualcomm, the chip maker, to enter into a chipset manufacturing arrangement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), to produce its next higher version of the Snapdragon range of processors.

This might have irked Samsung a bit, since in the normal course, Samsung would have carried out the manufacturing of these chipsets for Qualcomm. Observers have come to the conclusion that Samsung has therefore decided to use the Exynos range of 7nm and 8nm processors in its new flagships.

It has to be kept in view that this is not something new. Samsung has sold and is perhaps still selling, the Galaxy S8 and S8 + phones, in its home country, South Korea and in some other markets with the Exynos chips and in the other markets Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 SoC was fitted.  

Observers also point out that Samsung’s preference for the 10nm chips and the general consensus among the other players in the industry including the chip maker Qualcomm that the 7nm processor is the better alternative, has also been a bone of contention.

It is also being indicated that Samsung was not ready with the arrangements or infrastructure required to produce the 7nm chips and was busy making 8nm chips instead in its facility and that is the reason Qualcomm decided to commission the Taiwanese company to make the 7nm chips.

There are other reports that suggest beyond this there is not much in the form of any dispute between Samsung and Qualcomm.

In another bit of information, it is suggested that Samsung had found that its Exynos chipsets, fitted on the S8 and S8+ phones, proved to be faster with processing speeds than the Snapdragon processors and this could be one more reason for the company’s decision to go with the same components in their next set of flagships to be launched in 2018.

In the same breath, experts also warn that with so much at stake for Samsung in the case of the flagship Galaxy series of smartphones, it is not going to be easy to match the capabilities of a 7nm processor with an 8nm one. One has to quickly point out that Apple is likely to be using Qualcomm’s 7nm Snapdragon chipset in its upcoming flagship, iPhone 8.

Lastly, Samsung is probably aware of the potentiality of the chipsets with lower nanometer (nm) denomination, since there are reports that the company is moving ahead with its plans to manufacture the 6nm processors in-house and would be available for use post 2019.

It is then that the company may become even more powerful when it comes to processing speeds and other functional prowess of the smartphones Samsung releases.

The final call would be to launch the next set of smartphones S9 and S9+ with the 8nm Exynos chips and the 7nm Snapdragon chips and then hopefully the 6nm chips would be ready to take the battle to the next level.

Image: Kārlis Dambrāns via Flickr

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