Samsung Galaxy S25 to run on Qualcomm chips amid AI phone war

Galaxy S25, a new iteration of Samsung Electronics Co.'s flagship smartphone Galaxy series, will run on Qualcomm Inc.’ application processors (APs) that will significantly improve its performance, especially generative AI functions, to better compete with Apple Inc.'s first AI phone iPhone 16 to be launched next week, according to industry sources on Sunday.

Qualcomm’s next-generation mobile AP Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, produced on a 3 nanometer process, will be mounted on all types of Samsung Galaxy S25 smartphones, scheduled for release in January next year. 

The S25 series embedded with Qualcomm’s latest APs will enhance their performance by more than 30%, compared with its predecessor S24 models, the world’s first AI phones, said the sources.

The S24 series, launched early this year, came with three types, of which the top-end model S24 Ultra runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 made on a 4-nm node. Its non-Ultra models – Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus – are fitted with Samsung’s in-house AP Exynos 2400.

The mobile AP is called the brain of a smartphone. It has a central processing unit, graphics, camera and various other functions contained on a single chip. In the era of generative AI, smart gadget makers, including Chinese companies such Huawei and Xiaomi, are joinining competition to incoperate AI technology.

 
SNAPDRAGON CHIPS CUSTOMIZED TO S25 SERIES

Samsung expects Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, tailor-made to the S25 series, to make the upcoming smartphones competitive enough against iPhone 16.

Qualcomm designed the next-generation mobile processor optimized for the S25 series to win over Samsung that had planned to use its in-house AP Exynos 2500 and Snapdrago 8 Gen 4 for the new iterations. TSMC will manufacture the new Snapdragon chips. 

Except for the S23 models, Samsung had embedd its smartphones with Exynos and Snapdragon APs as part of its efforts to reduce manufacturing costs and expand its AP design capabilities and foundry business.

Exynos processors are designed by Samsung’s System LSI business division and produced by Samsung Foundry.

EXYNOS 2500 FOR FOLDABLE PHONES

For the upcoming S25 series, Samsung has decided not to use its next-generation AP – Exynos 2500 --  and instead, focus on improving its production yields and performance, said the sources.

It is understood to adopt the Exynos 2500 for its new foldable smartphone series -- Z Flip and Z Fold -- to be rolled out in the second half of next year.

Samsung is the world’s largest smartphone maker by shipment with a 20% market share, higher than Apple's 16%.

But it is lagging Apple in the premium smartphone segment, where it controls 16%, far below Apple’s 50%.

In the mobile AP market, Samsung is competing with Qualcomm and Taiwan's MediaTek Inc. But in the premium mobile processor segment, it is closely competing with the US chipset maker. 

In 2023, APs accounted for about 20% of Samsung’s smartphone manufacturing costs. It spent 11.7 trillion won ($8.7 billion) in purchasing APs in 2023, versus its spending of 7.6 trillion won in 2021

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang and Ui-Myung Park at hjs@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article