In the past few years, Samsung’s reliance on Qualcomm for high-end chips has increased significantly. Its foldable phone series has always used only Qualcomm Snapdragon chips, and the Galaxy S23 series is also equipped with Qualcomm chips. Samsung’s own Exynos chips have only returned in the Galaxy S24 series launched this year, and some markets are still equipped with Snapdragon processors.
Chips are one of the largest cost inputs for Samsung’s mobile division, and if Qualcomm raises prices, Samsung will have no choice but to accept their offer. It is reported that the price of Qualcomm chips is quite high, and Samsung seems to be hoping to use Exynos chips in more Galaxy devices starting this year to reduce costs.
A recent report suggests that Samsung has reduced its use of Exynos chips in Galaxy devices. Only 13 million Exynos chip devices were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2023, down 48% year-on-year. Samsung’s revenue from smartphone chips also fell 44% during the same period. Since Exynos chips are mainly used in Galaxy devices, this suggests that the sales decline is mainly due to Samsung purchasing more Qualcomm chips for high-end devices, while also using MediaTek chips in some low-end phones.
According to data in Samsung Electronics’ 2023 business report, the company’s mobile division spent US$8.87 billion (Note: currently about 63.864 billion RMB) in 2023 to purchase mobile chips. The department spent 3.1% more on this last year compared with 2022. The price of mobile chips has “increased approximately 30%” compared to last year, the report said.
According to Pulsenews, Samsung is planning to increase the use of Exynos chips in Galaxy devices from 2024, which will help reduce procurement costs. Samsung will also invest in making Exynos chips more competitive to address user concerns about their performance and power efficiency.
We’ve already seen some signs of a shift, with Samsung including the Exynos 2400 chip in the Galaxy S24 series, and rumors suggest the Galaxy S25 series might even use only Exynos chips. The new Galaxy A35 and A55 also use Exynos chips, and Samsung also plans to replace MediaTek chips in its lower-end lineup with its own chips.
