Samsung could greatly improve its processor part in the near future. The Korean firm could offer SoC Exynos cheaper than Qualcomm's and just as powerful. It could thus appeal to third-party manufacturers and steal market share from its competitor.
Samsung could bet even more on its Exynos processors in the future. The Korean firm is currently struggling to convince with its home-based SoC. This could change in the future, according to analysts reported by Yonhap News, thanks to more efficient and cheaper products.
The Exynos 990, which powers the European and Asian versions of the S20, has been heavily criticised for its poor performance compared to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, which fitted the American versions. But all this could only be a bad memory with the next model of Exynos, codenamed Olympus, which could be the Exynos 1000.
As powerful, but cheaper than Qualcomm processors
It would solve the problems of the previous model based in particular on an ARM architecture instead of home architecture. This process could allow it to compete with Qualcomm's processors, but also to offer better graphics performance, especially with a GPU designed by AMD.
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Kim Yang-Jea, an analyst at KTB Investment and Securities, said Samsung's Exynos processors would be as powerful as Qualcomm's, but also cheaper. This would make them much more attractive to third-party manufacturers, especially in this period of transition with 5G. Similarly, Samsung could use its phones to showcase the SoC Exynos in 2021, with for example a Galaxy S21 (or S30) equipped only with a home processor and no longer a SoC Qualcomm in some parts of the world.
Today, Samsung produces between 150 and 200 million Exynos processors per year. Qualcomm is far ahead, taking over 33% mobile chip market. While the goal is not to overtake Qualcomm by 2021, Samsung can hope to increase its orders and attract manufacturers looking for the best price. Third-party manufacturers already use Exynos processors in their smartphones, such as Oppo, Vivo or Xiaomi, but they could be much more numerous in the future.