Last year, Samsung incorporated Snapdragon chips into all its high-end phones, but this year, the company chose to use the Snapdragon chip exclusively in the Galaxy S24 Ultra, while the Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+ utilized Exynos chips in most countries. Looking ahead, Samsung has committed to continuing the use of Snapdragon chips in its future flagship phones, as confirmed by Qualcomm.
During the earnings call for Q4 2023, Qualcomm disclosed a multiyear agreement with Samsung to supply Snapdragon processors for upcoming flagship Galaxy smartphones, commencing in 2024 with the release of the Galaxy S24 series. This implies that there will be at least a few more generations of Galaxy S series and Galaxy Z series smartphones equipped with high-end Snapdragon processors. Furthermore, it suggests that Samsung is unlikely to employ MediaTek processors in its flagship smartphones in the near future.
Qualcomm's announcement during the earnings call stated, "We're also announcing that we extended a multiyear agreement with Samsung relating to Snapdragon platforms for flagship Galaxy smartphone launches starting in 2024. The extended agreement demonstrates the value of Snapdragon 8, our technology leadership, and our successful long-term strategic partnership with Samsung."
Meanwhile, for the Galaxy S25 series, Samsung is developing its in-house 'Dream Chip,' purportedly utilizing Samsung Foundry's second-generation 3nm fabrication process. Reports indicate that the upcoming flagship Exynos processor will incorporate the ARM Cortex-X5 CPU core, five Cortex-A720 CPU cores, four Cortex-A530 CPU cores, and the Xclipse 950 GPU. Its ability to compete with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4's Oryon CPU core in terms of performance and efficiency remains to be confirmed. This Exynos chip will also serve as a litmus test for Samsung Foundry's 3nm process.
