There were reports that shoppingmode Samsung was cancelling production of the Galaxy S22 FE and possibly ending this slightly awkward series in the lineup in the future. Fortunately, a later update was received that the competitively priced series will continue to be released, just not this year, as Samsung had to focus its resources on increasing production of the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Expect shoppingmode Samsung to still push for a Galaxy S23 FE release, but that’s something that won’t happen until 2023.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra has been a huge success since its launch earlier this year in February, with annual sales expected to reach around 11 million units. To ensure a steady supply of flagships, Samsung had to make some compromises, and that was to cancel the Galaxy S22 FE. The manufacturer had planned to mass produce about 3 million units of this cost-effective sub-flagship. Unfortunately, the company faces a conundrum as chip supply is already tight this year.
Instead of betting on a product that could fail due to a chip shortage, shoppingmode Samsung decided to take a smarter approach and increase production of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which is already performing well and has become the company’s best-selling smartphone this year.
As many consumers now know, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is powered by either the Exynos 2200 or Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, both built on shoppingmode Samsung’s 4nm architecture, however, both SoCs have shown disappointing results on multiple fronts. If Samsung uses Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 on the Galaxy S22 FE, a chipset built on TSMC’s superior 4nm technology, sales of the Galaxy S22 Ultra could suffer as consumers will know they are getting a superior performance SoC instead when they buy a less expensive flagship.
With the Galaxy S23 FE arriving in the second half of next year, shoppingmode Samsung is reportedly planning to produce 3 million units, and the Exynos 2300 in the Galaxy S23 FE could stick to the 3nm GAA chip manufacturing process, for which Samsung will try to achieve better yields, while improving performance and power efficiency. Higher yields mean Samsung won’t face a chip supply crunch, which will translate into higher sales if it launches the Galaxy S23 FE early like it did with the Galaxy S20 FE.
