MediaTek processors or inferior displays? Your call, Samsung
Difficult days lie ahead for Samsung and its flagship phones. This year the company had to abandon Exynos for the entire Galaxy S25 lineup but it seems it may have even more challenging scenarios just around the corner.
Reports have come out that Qualcomm is planning to significantly hike the cost of its next processor: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2. If Samsung wishes to stick with Snapdragon next year then the iPhone will have a massive advantage when it comes to cost. Apple’s flagship is already cheaper than Samsung’s (discounting any deals or trade-ins) and the gap threatens to widen even more.
Meanwhile Samsung Foundry is collapsing and is unable to achieve profitable yields for chip manufacturing. This has led to internal talks at Samsung about outsourcing Exynos production to TSMC similar to Apple’s approach for Apple silicon. But there is another alternative: MediaTek.
Over the past year MediaTek has approached Samsung with discounted offers if it’s allowed to supply chips for the Galaxy phones. Now that Qualcomm is making its offering much more expensive and Exynos still fails to impress, MediaTek may be Samsung’s only hope.
Reports have come out that Qualcomm is planning to significantly hike the cost of its next processor: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 2. If Samsung wishes to stick with Snapdragon next year then the iPhone will have a massive advantage when it comes to cost. Apple’s flagship is already cheaper than Samsung’s (discounting any deals or trade-ins) and the gap threatens to widen even more.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a Snapdragon processor. | Video credit — Samsung
MediaTek can save the day
Over the past year MediaTek has approached Samsung with discounted offers if it’s allowed to supply chips for the Galaxy phones. Now that Qualcomm is making its offering much more expensive and Exynos still fails to impress, MediaTek may be Samsung’s only hope.
That or cost-cutting. Samsung may have to negotiate better deals with domestic component manufacturers for its future phones. If it fails there then it may just have to opt for cheaper displays and cameras instead. The company cannot afford to drastically increase the price of its flagships when they’re already more expensive than the competition.
Korean media suggested that if the price of Qualcomm’s 8 Elite 2 rises, using MediaTek’s Dimensity could be a viable alternative.
— Jukanlosreve (@Jukanlosreve) December 4, 2024
They also noted that if the Galaxy S26, like the S25, exclusively uses the 8 Elite 2, cost-cutting in areas such as displays and cameras will be…
One downside of using MediaTek chipsets is that the company has had negative connotations attached to its name for years. Though it has now all but caught up with Qualcomm many users still balk at the idea of using a MediaTek device. Whether it’s financially worth switching to MediaTek is for Samsung to decide. Unlike iOS, Samsung users have other Android phones they can choose from.
Samsung needs a miracle right now if it plans on escaping this ordeal unscathed. I think opting to let TSMC manufacture Exynos chips may just be the best course of action.
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