We’re still a whole six months away from 2025, but that hasn’t stopped rumours from swirling around Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S25 series. The South Korean outfit is currently busying itself with the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip 6, scheduled for July, but that hasn’t stopped it from cooking up fresh deals on the side that’ll see Samsung’s chip team out of work. At least for a while.
That’s according to prominent leaker and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said that Samsung was eyeing an all-Snapdragon lineup where the Galaxy S25 series is concerned. That’s a change from last year’s S24 range, where the altogether snappier Snapdragon processor was reserved for those who could shell out the most bucks for the S24 Ultra. The rest were ‘stuck’ with Samsung’s own Exynos 2400 SoC.
Back to normal, then?
Qualcomm will likely be the sole SoC supplier for the Samsung Galaxy S25 (vs. 40% for the S24), as the Exynos 2500 may not ship due to Samsung’s lower-than-expected 3nm yield.
In addition to the significant increase in supply share, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 will see a price…
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) June 17, 2024
It doesn’t seem like Samsung’s choice, either. Kuo’s tweet mentions that Samsung’s successor to the Exynos 2400, likely named Exynos 2500, isn’t exactly fielding the numbers it hoped for, yielding “lower-than-expected 3nm” results. Meanwhile, Qualcomm’s flying high with no such issues, most recently unveiling its Snapdragon X Plus processor for PCs.
Read More: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Plus SoC officially breaks cover
With nowhere else to turn, Qualcomm may pounce on Samsung’s weakened state (and lack of useable processors) by hiking up the price of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 SoC expected to turn up in the Korean giant’s next flagship by 25-50%. Samsung might be able to coordinate some sort of “for Galaxy” discount — but it’ll still be paying more than it initially expected.
If Samsung can get its ducks in a row ahead of the S26 launch, it’ll likely drop Qualcomm entirely — something it was reportedly attempting to do this time around… before the “lower-than-expected 3nm yield” happened.
