Samsung Allegedly Drops Exynos For Galaxy S23 In Favor Of Qualcomm Snapdragon

Samsung will be using Snapdragon processors worldwide for its next-gen Galaxy S23 smartphones, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Samsung has typically shipped Galaxy phones to the U.S. market with Snapdragon chips, while those in Europe and other international markets often housed Samsung's own Exynos chipset.

Samsung used Qualcomm to supply around 70% of the chips for the Galaxy S22 series, according to a recent report. In the past, the Korean tech company has typically used Snapdragon in its U.S. marketed smartphones, while using Exynos in international markets. But it seems that Samsung may be dropping its Exynos processor entirely for its next generation flagship Galaxy smartphones.

Back in February of this year, early reports did not paint a flattering picture of the Exynos 2200, when compared to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. The prevailing theory at that time was Samsung had to throttle back the GPU on the Exynos 2200 in order to avoid overheating and maintain adequate battery life.

If the move to exclusively use Snapdragon does happen, it could very well be due to performance, power efficiency, or both. Qualcomm's SM-8550, more than likely to be named the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, reportedly has stronger performance than Samsung's upcoming Exynos chip. According to Kuo, the Exynos 2300 "can't compete" with the next generation Snapdragon. He also suggests that Qualcomm will gain an even higher share of the high-end market with its upcoming SM-8550.

The Exynos chip has not had a good track record in the last couple of years. In 2020, fans of Samsung started a petition that garnered tens of thousands of signatures asking the company to stop using the Exynos chips in its devices. The call for the end of Exynos by fans was brought on by ongoing performance, battery life, and thermal issues often found on the Exynos versions of Samsung's flagship devices. Following the petition, Samsung stated that both "Exynos and Snapdragon processors go through the same strict and rigorous, real-life testing scenarios in order to deliver a consistent and optimal performance over the entire lifecycle of the smartphone."

While Samsung may be dropping the Exynos in its Galaxy devices, the company's Mobile President TM Roh said in a town hall meeting back in April that it was working on making a new application processor that will be "unique" to Galaxy smartphones. We will just have to wait and see what all of this means in the coming months, as more leaks and rumors are surely to surface about the Galaxy S23 series.

Top Image Credit: Samsung