Apple’s A-series chips are known for their unrivaled efficiency and performance resulting from a firm grip on everything from the chip’s die design to iOS’ optimization. Recent reports suggest Samsung wants to follow suit and transition to using proprietary silicon in its smartphones.
A report from iNews 24 claims senior management at Samsung is interested in developing a custom System on a Chip (SoC) for future smartphones. The company hopes that it will be able to create a well-rounded custom chip instead of focusing on performance alone.
At a company town hall meeting, Samsung smartphone head Roh Tae-moon reportedly said, “we will make an Application Processor (AP) unique to the Galaxy.” The company’s newfound interest in custom silicon is said to be fueled by the dismal thermal performance and GPS issues of the Exynos 2200 chip in the Galaxy S22 series.
Historically, Samsung’s experiments with the Exynos APs have been rather unsuccessful. The recent models have been plagued with scores of issues ranging from random app freezes, poor battery life, and noticeable lag. Moreover, the performance of Exynos chips has also been worse than rival offerings from Qualcomm.
Additionally, IT Home reports that Chinese smartphone maker Oppo also has intentions to transition to custom silicon. The company has already dipped its toes in the waters with the MariSilicon X image processor chip on the Oppo Find X5. The company is said to be working on custom SoCs manufactured by TSMC on the 6nm process for future Oppo smartphones. These chips could debut as soon as 2023, and a transition to the 4nm process node could occur in 2024.
That said, don’t get your hopes up that Samsung and Oppo will be able to rival Apple from the get-go. The latter’s custom silicon isn’t even expected to rival current-generation offerings from MediaTek and Qualcomm. Instead, the chips will probably power lower-end budget-oriented smartphones.
Besides Samsung and Oppo, other major Android smartphone OEMs have also expressed intentions to rival Apple since it is the world’s leading smartphone maker despite its high-priced products. Do you think these companies will be able to dethrone Apple if they transition to custom silicon? Tell us what you think in the comments.
