Galaxy S25 series may receive a version with Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 only
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Samsung may release the upcoming line of flagship smartphones Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra with only Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip, skipping Exynos chips.
Samsung has previously released flagship smartphones without its own Exynos chips. The entire Galaxy S23 lineup was equipped with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processors.
Kuo says that this decision was not made on Samsung’s own accord. The company had difficulties producing its own 3-nanometer Exynos 2500 processors and they will not be enough to power the entire Galaxy S25 line.
However, a complete switch to Qualcomm will have its drawbacks. Due to the increased demand for chips, Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 is likely to be 25-30% more expensive. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 cost about $200, so the cost of Gen 4 could rise to $260.
As a result, the prices of Galaxy S25 smartphones themselves may also rise, unless Samsung decides to take on all the additional costs, which is unlikely.
However, in addition to Qualcomm, such a deal will have benefits for TSMC, which is the exclusive manufacturer of Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chips. Kuo says that the company will also benefit greatly from an increase in Qualcomm’s orders.
Samsung’s deal with Qualcomm won’t be the only one where the company will exclusively use other people’s chips in its devices. There were rumors that the company dumped Qualcomm in favor of MediaTek for the Galaxy Tab S10+.
Earlier, it was also reported that the Galaxy S25 Ultra may receive significant camera improvements.