39 minutes ago
☕ Good morning! I’m off on a week-long adventure to Italy from tomorrow, meaning more fun with Nick Fernandez at the wheel for a few days, and rumors Paula Beaton will step in as well. I’m going to miss the October 19 Pixel launch, but maybe the cat is out of the bag enough as it is? Until next week…
South Korean media reports Samsung is pushing to “raise the proportion” of Exynos chipsets in Galaxy phones, which seems to be Samsung’s response to the chipset shortage.
What’s happening:
- Korea’s ET News reports that Samsung Electronics is pushing to “raise the proportion” of Exynos chipsets in Galaxy phones from 20% to between 50% and 60%.
- The outlet noted that Samsung’s LSI division will more than double shipments of Exynos chipsets in 2022.
- That presumably means less Qualcomm and Mediatek chips in mid- and lower-end Galaxy phones like the A-series though.
- While Qualcomm powers most Samsung phones that don’t use an Exynos variant, there’s at least five devices, including the A32 4G and 5G variants, that use a Mediatek chip.
- So, is this Samsung’s response to struggling to get enough third-party chips from other suppliers?
- Well, it may be that Samsung’s chipsets are just getting better/fixed. ET News said a source suggested Samsung has addressed two key Exynos issues with the next generation of chipsets: “I know that the 5G communication and heat issue (sic), which were the most problematic issues in Exynos, have been resolved in the next production.”
- The next flagship Exynos will also be fabbed on a 5nm process, but it’s unclear if that will apply to lower-end Exynos chipsets too — Exynos 1080 was 5nm.
- The other element is the GPU, with at least the flagship Exynos to get AMD’s next-generation GPU in the next flagship Samsung Galaxy phone, likely the S22.
For Qualcomm:
- This all comes during the week where the WSJ published an in-depth profile on Qualcomm’s CEO, Cristiano Amo, which featured wording like: “I cannot find a customer that we’re not getting pressure from directly and indirectly,” he said. “It is a pressure cooker right now.”
- This might be Samsung’s way of releasing the pressure. But will consumers be convinced? Or do most people who buy mid-rangers not worry about chipsets beyond the right mix of pricing, specs, and battery life?
Bonus: There are rumors floating around of a final Samsung event for 2021 in the weeks ahead, but with the Galaxy S21 FE all-but canned or massively delayed until next year, no ideas yet as to what it could be?
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